Maggi Crisis- Social Media Glorifies the Ban

After a long discussion about whether Maggi should be banned from being sold in various outlets across the country, the FSSAI has finally decided on agreeing on the aforementioned. The high amounts of lead and MSG, that has been claimed to be used in the ‘masala’ used to flavour the highly appreciated and mother’s favourite 2 minute noodles, has finally received a ban . Uttar Pradesh raised the initial warning flag and demanded a quality check on Maggi, this was followed by all the states in the country and eventually Nestle was found guilty of using excessive amounts of the two harmful elements in their instant noodles.
The rage about this issue also spilled over to social media and an unending inflow of tweets, messages, posts etc. on various social media channels started. The influx continued over a long period of time and displayed variegated opinions. While most people felt the ban was important, considering the harm it can cause to one’s health, others still stood by the fact that they chose delicious taste and easy cooking over good health.
We did an analysis of the situation and the reaction generated on social media, and found some fascinating results. As of 8th June 2015, a total of 4.43 lakh mentions happened via social media, with more than 60% of the sentiment being negative. This shows the wrath people showed towards Nestle, about its demeaning behaviour.

Twitter contributed the maximum number of conversations, a total of 4.37 lakh conversations were received from twitter alone. Take a look at the tweets below to understand the type of conversations that arouse.

It was not just the people talking about it, but a number of media houses also took to social media to express their opinions. Some of the influential media houses being Zoom TV, Mashable, First Post and Hindustan Times, the situation became a little more tense. What also made it worse was the fact that known faces like Madhuri Dixit, Chetan Bhagat and Shekhar Kapur also used the social media platform to talk about this disaster.
Few news channels also provided detailed research about the scam. Here’s a list of the channels which kept us enlightened about the investigation process and the prospective results as well.

After the final decision of banning Maggi noodles all over India, the retail giants took immediate steps to clear their shelves. This has increased the visibility of other noodle brands, as a number of people were found talking about alternatives for Maggi as well. Whether Maggi is going to return to the shelves new and improved, or will it make a complete exit from the market is still a question. What do you think? Leave your comments below.