Amid #BoycottSnapchat campaign, confused users uninstall Snapdeal instead of Snapchat

In a case of mistaken identity, many people downgraded and uninstalled the mobile application of e-commerce giant ‘Snapdeal’ instead of social networking app ‘Snapchat’. They wanted to uninstall Snapchat to mark their protest against certain unverified comments of Snapchat CEO about the Indian market.

The social media was on Sunday abuzz with criticism against Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel after a report quoted one of the company’s former employees as saying that the top executive told him that the “app is only for rich people” and that he (CEO) was not interested in expanding the business to “poor countries” like India and Spain.

Snapchat, on its part, has rubbished the allegations.

However, soon after the controversy erupted, #BoycottSnapchat became one of the top trending topics on Twitter with over 69,000 tweets. People began to uninstall the app and give it poor ratings and reviews on various app stores.

“Dear CEO of Snapchat...why don’t you come to India and check out Indians’ phones,” wrote a user in review of Snapchat’s app. Many also went on to highlight that CEOs of top tech firms like Microsoft and Google are Indians.

Interestingly, a section of Internet users mistook Snapchat to be Snapdeal and uninstalled the e-commerce app of the latter. This came to light after netizens started posting pictures of the blunder on Twitter.

ALSO READ | Snapchat rubbishes reports that CEO Evan Spiegel called India 'poor country'

Meanwhile, Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl tweeted, “Ppl asking us to make a statement that @snapdeal is not @snapchat was possibly the last thing I thought I would ever need to do”.

Many users also explained how the two apps were different.

“Time to balance the ratings...guys its Snapchat’s CEO who said bad things. You are making Snapdeal pay that...please change your ratings,” wrote one of them.

ALSO READ | Snapchat ratings drop to 'one star' on App Store post Evan Spiegel's 'poor countries like India' comment

The incident also brought out the creative side of many.  A certain meme being circulated quipped “hum James Bond se Gutka bikwate Hai” (we make James Bond sell Gutka—a mix of tobacco, areca nut and other ingredients).

Snapdeal, which has been in news for a potential sell out to larger rival Flipkart, has faced a similar downgrade in 2015 when its then-brand ambassador Aamir Khan made a comment on growing ‘intolerance in the country. 

ALSO READ | Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel's comments on India sparks row, company rubbishes ex-employee's allegations