Commentary

Former Ogilvy Creative Slams Unilever For Mercury Pollution With Viral Video

Former Ogilvy & Mather Creative Supervisor Sofia Ashraf has created a video (entitled Kodaikanal Won't, a rap set to the tune of Nicki Minaj's Anaconda. The video, which has amassed 1.3 million views and 12,808 likes since its release July 30, takes issue with Unilever and its use of mercury in a now closed plant in India.

In the video, Ashraf sings, "Unilever dumped toxic mercury in Kodaikanal, poisoning its workers and the forest. In the past 14 years, Unilever has done nothing to clean up the contamination and compensate its workers and their families, despite talking a big game about social responsibility." 

The video is aimed at Unilever Global CEO Paul Polman and urges the company to better deal with the fallout which began in 2001 at the company's thermometer plant. Apparently toxic mercury was dumped around the plant and hasn't been properly cleaned up since 2001. The video also urges people to sign a petition. To date, 38,032 have signed the petition.

Piyush Pandey, CEO of Ogilvy & Mather which handles Unilever, said of Ashraf's video, "There is an individual's personal choice of supporting something or standing up for a cause, religious belief or whatever else. At the same time, all of us have signed an employment letter saying we won't do anything against the interest of our clients. It's a conflict of interest scenario, but there's no dispute since she's already put in her papers." 

For its part, Unilever, through a spokesperson, said, "We have acted in a transparent and responsible manner since the issue first arose in 2001, when we immediately closed the factory and launched an investigation. We have been rigorous in establishing facts and several independent expert studies have concluded that there were no adverse impacts on the health of our people at Kodaikanal. We have also taken action to ensure the clean-up of soil within the factory premises."

Nicki Minaj, herself, has taken notice and, in response to the video, tweeted, "Wow.

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