Meri Maggi is no longer our own. In the rare possibility of it making to the supermarket shelves, no one would pick it up. Since there are a gazillion options out there, it wouldn’t make sense for anyone to risk their health to display unnecessary loyalty. And that, that is a big blow for Nestle.
Which brings me to Nestle, the brand. Chocolates are everyone’s favourites, and I’m not any different. Now, with Cadbury being a tad expensive, I’d almost always settle for a Nestle chocolate to satisfy my tastebuds’ cravings, which would also be easier on the pockets, too. From an array of products that Nestle offered at reasonable rates, the brand became a permanent part of every Indian kitchen shelf.
And now, that very product is on the brink of disaster. After proclaiming and singing the jingles of the apparently healthy Maggi, that bubble burst and how. Not just the product and the brand, even people who endorsed are being ripped apart. From Madhuri Dixit to Amitabh Bachchan, everyone who claimed Maggi is the best thing to have happened to mankind is at the receiving end of brickbats.
Struggling with such a big issue at hand, Nestle needed no more. But wait, this isn’t exactly turning out to be their time, is it? When a certain taxi driver picked up a packet of milk powder for his twin toddlers, in Coimbatore trusting the brand, he was in for a rather rude surprise when he saw creepy larvae in it.
Which brings me to this point: when brands advertise, what do they think? The huge factories and the machines through which what we eat comes to life — are they cleaned? Are they maintained? They’re so huge that cleaning them will take time. Do the producers and investors agree to stall work to maintain hygiene? I mean, risk lakhs or crores of losses to make sure that edible products, especially are made with maximum care?
Which makes me fear, what exactly am I eating? What are all of eating? The whole Maggi episode has exposed chinks in the armour of one brand. What about the rest of them? I’m sure there’s many secrets hidden in their closets as well. Scary? Hell yes.