As part of the promotion, people received pre-recorded calls from a man claiming that he was a witness to a murder and that his life is in danger in a panicked and trembling voice. At the end it’s revealed that it is not a real call but a marketing strategy for SonyLIV’s new series ‘Undekhi’.
There was a severe backlash on social media after the campaign played out with several people taking to social media to call out the platform for its panic-inducing and insensitive publicity stunt. One user even asked the Mumbai Police to look into the matter and take action.
The Maharashtra cyber cell also issued a warning on Twitter to stop the promotions immediately saying, “It has come to our attention that a Sony Liv, a TV channel has used a tactic for the promotion of its new show by calling people and playing a disturbing voice recording. If you receive any such call, please do not panic and create rumours. We have instructed the channel to cease this promotional activity immediately.”
Later SonyLIV’s team released an official statement on Twitter saying, “If you have received a call for our show Undekhi & it has disturbed you we would like to sincerely apologize to you. This was a test activity which has gone out accidentally & our intention was not to cause any kind of discomfort or panic. We sincerely regret any inconvenience.”
Undekhi is a crime thriller that follows Rishi who captures a murder on his phone and is subsequently hunted by powerful men set to kill him. It stars Dibyendu Bhattacharya and Harsh Chhaya among others.
We’re hiring!
We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.