In a classic case of mistaken identity, the outrage over an unpleasant comment by Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel misfired with many Internet-savvy Indians confusing homegrown e-commerce platform Snapdeal with the social media company.
It all began when a former Snapchat employee was quoted in a media report saying the Chief Executive Officer wasn’t interested in expanding Snapchat’s business to “poor countries” like India. The comment, though denied by the company later, led to many Indians taking to social media to express their displeasure seeking Snpachat’s boycott.
#BoycottSnapchat soon became a trending topic on Twitter and many users uninstalled the app as a mark of protest. However, it soon appeared that some people were directing their ire against Kunal Bahl-founded e-commerce website Snapdeal instead of Snapchat.
The error came to light as users began sharing screenshots of some Snapdeal App Store reviews. The blunder soon started to spread wider as more people went ahead and uninstalled the Snapdeal app instead of Snapchat.
Snapdeal CEO and co-founder had to come out and issue a clarification on Twitter. “"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,” he tweeted.
Snapchat CEO Spiegel came under fire 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.
The company later denied any such comment was ever made.
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