Popular coaching institute chain FIITJEE has drawn flak for its latest advertisement, which features a picture of one of its ex-students to suggest declining performance after leaving their coaching.
The advertisement by FIITJEE, displayed on the front page of a leading newspaper, said that the ex-student could have secured a 100 NTA score in JEE-Mains 2024 and not 99.99 if she remained with them instead of shifting to an “EVIL Institute from Kota with a history of suicides”.
JEE refers to Joint Entrance Exam and is a national entrance exam held for candidates seeking to pursue an engineering course from various colleges in India.
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The FIITJEE ad caught attention after Indian Revenue Service officer Katyayani Sanjay Bhatia took to microblogging platform to share a photo of it on social media. She wrote: "A new low in advertisements @fiitjee. You are posting a picture of a child saying she performed badly because she left your institute! I have blurred the picture because I don't believe in this disgusting way of claiming your superiority by belittling a girl child."
In another post, Katyayani Sanjay Bhatia wrote, "We talk about parents putting pressure on kids for IIT JEE, but what about this manner of advertising where you shame a student for not performing? And claiming superiority by claiming that she would have performed had she been in your institute? Shameful."
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"And it doesn't stop here.They are claiming about their superiority by talking about the institute with a 'history of suicides'. Shameful. Suicides in Kota are an issue that concerns us all above petty competition but claiming in this manner is cheap@fiitjee," she said in another post, tagging the Education ministry.
Katyayani Sanjay Bhatia requested Smriti Irani also to take note of the matter, adding that such "advertising malpractices need to be checked-no institute has the right to shame students to claim it's superiority."
She also urged the newspaper to be "more mindful of the ads it is "placing on page 1." We owe responsibility, she said.
The posts got massive response, with several users slamming FIITJEE for the advertisement. One user wrote, "The girl and her parents should sue them for criminal harassment and defamation. Mere withdrawal of the ad or an insincere apology ain't enough."
Another user said, "I have respect for Fiitjee due to their teachers but This is horrible advertising! Don't know how this was approved in the first place that too, on the first page of a national newspaper."
While one user said it was the best example of “offensive advertising”, several users urged bodies like National Commission for Women (NCW) and National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to step in.
