In today’s world, I doubt that there may be harshly few people who do not know the meaning of ‘being viral’. The new decade propelled the social media engine till that level that being viral is something equivalent to getting the highest degree in the nation. However, in majority of the cases, or say the least, in 50% of situations, the people or situations going viral are probably for wrong reasons, incorrect representation or a mere fun.
They probably do not impact the society positively as a whole. But, somewhere the trend can be reverse. People became viral and they create a huge impact in the favour of the society. Such a wave of glitter is someone called Mr Revant Himatsingka, aka The Food Pharmer.
Revant Himatsingka, who is also known to his followers as The Food Pharmer, has attracted national attention after receiving a legal notice from Bournvita, a renowned brand of a malted milk drink. This abrupt turn of events brought Mr Himatsingka into the limelight and led to intense debates on social media while also raising crossroads of law, social media and consumer activism.
How did it all started that pushed Mr Himatsingka to became a national sensation?
The controversy over the sugar content in Bournvita started with April 2023, with Himatsingka when he posted a video criticizing this drink on Instagram. The drink’s high sugar content was highlighted in himatsingka’s video, and he condemned that company’s slogan: ‘Taiyari Jeet Ki’ (Preparing for Victory) should be replaced by the tagline ‘Taiyari Diabetes Ki’ since they have high sugar contents. He said that the beverage could lead to diabetes instead of success. He also stated that half of a package of Bournvita is sugar, and that it contains ingredients that may cause cancer.
After his video, the king of the room get angry. What’s next, the king reacted and used all their powers to shut the opinions. Mondelez India, the owner of Bournvita, sent Himatsingka a legal notice demanding that the video be removed within 24 hours or else they will take legal action. On response, days after his video went viral, Revant Himatsingka shared a post on his Instagram account in which he issued an apology to Cadbury. In a detailed post, Revant said that he has decided to take down the video which received nearly 12 million views on Instagram after getting a legal notice from Cadbury.
However, the king never realised that the people cannot be made fool for a very long time. The third year of the new decade costed heftly to the company. A myriad of people joined the series and alleged Bournvita for using such misleading advertisements. Founder & CEO of stockbroking platform Zerodha, Mr Nitin Kamath joined the debate without naming Bournvita, mentioning that ‘An intervention that could help people make healthier food and beverage choices needs to have front of package food labelling, like FSSAI proposed in their 2018 draft paper, indicating fat, sugar, & salt per serving, and a warning if per serving per cent is beyond a % of the daily requirement’.
The turning point was when doctors and medical professionals came out in support of Himatsingka.
Shashi Iyengar, a metabolic health coach, asserted that the notion of “health drinks” has been implanted in Indians from an initial stage of life. Aggressive marketing, with celebrities promoting it, has given a magical aura around it and even he has taken these as a kid.
A clinician-scientist popularly known by his X handle TheLiverDoc, Dr Cyriac Abby Philips in a tweet mentioned that the company claims that the product enhanced brain activity, improved muscles, enhanced immune system, and improved bone health. However, all of these require empirical evidence for confirmation.
Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi), a national think-tank on nutrition, comprising independent experts in epidemiology, human nutrition, community nutrition, pediatrics, medical education, administration and management, has also come out in support of the influencer. NAPi, in its statement, said that there is enough scientific evidence in the public about the negative impact of increasing consumption of UPFs (ultra-processed foods), which Bournvita falls under, on human health.
This includes several chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and depression (non-communicable diseases). It said that NAPi stands by Revant Himatsingka for speaking facts on the nutritional information of the product Bournvita that it is high in total sugar — 49.8 g of total sugar per 100 g. On my God, it’s holy half tablespoon sugar in 1 tablespoon bournvita. Now wonder, since ages, children are being given these so called ‘health drinks’. That could be one of those corresponding reasons why obesity in children in india is so common!
Finally, NAPi believes that advertisements of Bournvita are misleading and filed a formal complaint to the Department of Consumers Affairs of the Union government about its recent advertisement which, it alleged, violated provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. After the removal of his video and people coming in support of Revant, the chairman of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights Priyank Kanoongo has also come out in support and has said that he will look into the matter.
Towards the end of the year, finally we got the great news which is a direct output of Himatsingka’s courage to make the correct use of social media, the collective efforts of authorities and the power of social media that forced the company to change their rules, and eventually in December 2023, Bournvita reduced its sugar content by 15%.
Fast forward to December 2024, and Mr Revant Himatsingka, aka the Food Pharmer is a person of national sensation and an influential figure.
How did Mr Himatsingka used his National Fame for the welfare of the society?
Many would have thought that reduction of sugar content in Bournvita may be the end of one battle, however, Mr Himatsingka used the power of social media and his fame to start another battles. Himatsingka continued his journey remained defiant, and kept standing up for consumer rights. His stance resonated with many users, who praised him for his courage and conviction. Himatsingka’s interviews were widely watched, and he quickly became a household name. He was praised by many for his confidence and conviction, and he was hailed as a hero by some sections of the consumer rights community.
However, amidst all these national fame and series of legal game, one question emerged that shaked the conscience of many Indians about misleading advertisements, low or substandard quality products by big giants and all these are going to compromise the health of Indians?
Recall a similar case of Nestle, which showed how the company did not use sugar in developed nations but puts sugar in baby products in developing and low income nations like India and Africa. These puts a strong question in limelight, about how the health of people is secondary when it comes to capitalism? There Mr Himatsingka called out the companies and the civilians of the nation to not blindly follow ‘Crony Capitalism’ and asked the companies to follow the standards and adopt ‘Conscious Capitalsim’.
The controversy surrounding the legal notice has raised important questions about consumer activism and the role of social media in promoting consumer rights. Many users have argued that the notice was an horrible and powerful slap to silence a consumer activist and intimidate others from speaking out against large corporations. The controversy has also highlighted the importance of social media in promoting consumer rights and activism. Himatsingka’s use of social media to respond to the legal notice and to mobilize public support has been widely praised, and has demonstrated the power of social media in amplifying consumer voices.
Conclusion
Revant Himatsingka’s rise to national fame is a testament to the power of social media in promoting consumer rights and activism. The controversy of the legal notice has forced people to raise important questions not only about the limits of free speech and consumer activism, but also it has highlighted the importance of standing up for consumer rights and holding large corporations accountable for their actions. As the debate surrounding Himatsingka’s actions continues to rage, one thing is clear: the person has become a household name, and his actions will have a lasting impact on the conversation surrounding consumer rights and activism in India.
Today Mr Himatsingka, after the Bournvita case, has asked many other companies to review their ingredients and asked them to stop misleading advertisements. Also, Mr Himatsingka, through his LinkedIn and Instagram handles, regularly update posts and videos about the importance of labelling while purchasing food and many more. His efforts have pushed many companies to reduce their harmful contents such as Maggi Ketchup reduced its sugar content by 22%, PepsiCo, the maker of Lay’s chips, has reduced the use of palm oil in its products, and many more.
All these changes are not made overnight and not because of one person, but definitely, the efforts of one person have pushed companies to review their practices and stop making fool of people. Himatsingka believes that the fastest and most cost-effective way to make Indians healthier is to teach them how to read food labels. He believes that if Indians become food literate, companies will be forced to provide better quality food. And hence, that ‘How one legal notice from Bournvita made Mr Revant Himatsingka, aka The Food Pharmer a national sensation’.
