'We hate Khichuri, Tehari, Shemai…'

Barely a week into its campaign, BRAC Chicken had to pull down its billboards. Nurul Islam Hasib explains why.Dhaka, May 2  Barely a week after unveiling a new range of food items, BRAC Chicken pulled down its billboards faced with sharp criticism of its slogan. 

The tagline with pictures of disgruntled looking children read, "We hate Khichuri, Tehari, Shemai, Cake, Pauruti…" 

Khichuri, traditional dish made with essentially rice, lentils, vegetables and meat, is generally considered to be rather nutritious and in fact recommended by child experts and nutritionists. 

'Shemai' or vermicelli is a traditional sweet dish in Bangladesh, and 'Pauruti' means bread. 

The other side of the billboards, with the same children looking rather happy, read "We love BRAC Chicken, healthy choice." 

Child experts and nutritionists condemned the campaign slogan on the billboards across Dhaka and in the advertisements in several leading newspapers as it despised the very food 'Khichuri' recommended to prevent malnutrition in Bangladesh. 

"[The campaign] is a threat to local food," president of Bangladesh Paediatric Association Prof Dr Md Hanif told bdnews24.com. 

He said that 'Khichuri' was a balanced food. "Chicken fry is not (that balanced). It is very much linked to obesity," he said referring to the advertisement, showing happy children biting into a chicken drumstick. 

BRAC Chicken launched an entire range of frozen food items on Apr 25 including what they called, masala nuggets, kids nuggets, regular nuggets, drumsticks, wings, burger patties, sausage, kebab, cutlet and chicken tandoori. 

President of the paediatric association said they had brought the 'objectionable' advertisement to the notice of the BRAC Health staff. 

"They assured us they would withdraw those adverts," Dr Hanif said on Wednesday. "But if they don't, we will protest formally." 

BRAC media manager, Zia Hashan told bdnews24.com the same evening that the billboards had already been taken out because they were being taken 'the wrong way'. 

"As soon as we realised that the message was being misinterpreted, we decided to pull down the billboards." 

Prof Hanif was disappointed with the campaign though. "We never expected this type of a campaign from an organisation like BRAC." 

Established in 1972 as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee and said to be the largest NGO in the world, BRAC has operations ranging from Haiti to Afghanistan to South Sudan. 

Prof Hanif said this type of chicken generally had high salt, high fat content leading to obesity, high blood pressure and other chronic diseases. 

"Khichuri is a balanced, time-tested diet and we recommend it for six-month old children." 

BRAC media manager Hashan also pointed out that BRAC had published the advertisement in newspapers only once. "We did not go for any repeats." 

He said that it had not been possible to bring down the hoardings across Dhaka because of the general strike but confirmed that the last remaining few must have been taken out by Tuesday after the BNP shutdown ended. 

Prof Md Ekhlasur Rahman, Line Director of National Nutrition Services who was not aware of the campaign, reacted sharply after hearing the tagline. 

"I did not notice it," he said. "But if so, it would be very bad," he told bdnews24.com, adding that it was evident that Khichuri contained everything a child needed. 

"We also treat severe acute malnutrition cases with a special type of Khichuri," he said. 

"It's an anti-nutrition campaign that we cannot expect from BRAC," he said. 

Renowned paediatrician, Prof M Q K Talukder said, "It indicates total ignorance. This is very dangerous." 

He said BRAC's own health workers recommended Khichuri in their nutrition campaign, "then how come their advert said 'hate Khichuri'!" 

"[Khichuri] is an excellent food. It transformed the health of the children of the country." 

"There is nothing like it," he continued, citing Kichuri's ingredients – dal, rice, vegetables and chicken. 

'Law needed' 

In the absence of appropriate laws and monitoring, ad campaigns and slogans sometimes violate certain standards and norms. 

bdnews24.com reported in Oct 2008 on a Horlicks campaign — carried by major television stations and newspapers — with false nutritional claims for which it was banned in Britain. 

Britain's advertisement watchdog found the maker GlaxoSmithKline's claim that Horlicks makes babies "taller, stronger and sharper" false and banned the commercial made for Bangladesh but mistakenly aired in the UK. 

A former Dhaka University journalism teacher Dr Sakhawat Ali Khan had told bdnews24.com then: "Anyone being affected by the wrong advertisement can go to the Press Council for redress." 

"If proved right in the court, the media outlet concerned will have to pay compensation to the victims as per a previous verdict of the Press Council," the professor said. 

Prof Hanif, however, suggested a strong law to check those adverts for the sake of children. 

He said the government could not take action against the advertiser in the absence of a law against such practices. 

Experts earlier warned of a 'new threat' to infant feeding and nutrition in Bangladesh when the country is gearing up to launch a strong fight against malnutrition with natural and locally available solutions. 

They said various international agencies and global manufacturers were out to promote this new — ready-to-use-therapeutic-food (RUTF) — in Bangladesh after being rejected outright in Malaysia, India and even Pakistan.