On February 20, Poonam Pandey took to Instagram to share that she was ‘happy’ her fake-death post put out by her team reached many people, raising awareness about cervical cancer.
She added, “But what hurt me is that some people benefited monetarily and drove me into the cause pretext. But, I will always stand by it and continue to lend my support now and forever.”
In early February, Pandey’s team announced via Instagram that the actor and model had died of cervical cancer. However, a day later an alive Pandey released a video on Instagram stating that she was fine and the news of her demise was part of a campaign to raise awareness on cervical cancer. The stunt left the internet divided.
Digital marketing agency Schbang claimed responsibility and released a statement on Instagram stating that it was the orchestrator behind the fake-death stunt Pandey.
Their statement read, “Yes, we were involved in the initiative for Poonam Pandey to spread awareness about Cervical Cancer in collaboration with Hauterfly. To start off, we would like to extend a heartfelt apology – especially towards those who have been triggered as a result of having faced/having loved one face the hardships of any kind of Cancer.”
The digital agency also went on to state that the ‘act’ pulled off by Pandey resulted in making ‘Cervical Cancer’ and its related terms the most searched ‘topics on Google’. “This is the first time in the history of this country that the word ‘Cervical Cancer’ has been on 1000+ Headlines”,” read the statement.
The agency took to Instagram to apologise once again. The post read, “To everyone, those hurt or not hurt by the campaign, our Schbangers, partners, friends, families and the young talent considering their career choice in advertising, we are deeply sorry. We know the end doesn’t justify the means.”
During the outrage surrounding the incident, it was alleged that the stunt was for US drug giant Merck’s Indian affiliate MSD. The company immediately distanced itself from Pandey, the death debacle and the agency, terminating its association with Schbang.
Read More: Schbang, agency behind Poonam-Pandey fake death stunt, dropped by pharma client MSD