Former O&M copywriter calls out Unilever Indian toxic waste in Nicki Minaj inspired rap
Sofia Ashraf, an ex-Ogilvy & Mather ad copyrighter, has received global recognition for a rap demanding compensation for alleged damage Unilever caused near the Indian town of Kodaikanal.
The former creative claims mercury pollution was caused by Unilever thermometer factory.
Demanding Unilever cleans up waste and compensates workers, Ashraf's ‘Kodaikanal Won’t’ received over one million views in the space of days. The song riffs on Nicki Minaj’s ‘Anaconda’ single, and the popualrity of it has caused significant PR problems for the global brand.
The lyrics read: “Unilever came and left devastation as they exposed the land to contamination,” she raps. “The environment is polluted still. Your clean-up was a sham, there’s poison in the air.”
The factory in question closed in 2001 after 18 years of operation. Activists claimed the factory’s 1,100 members of staff worked with the mercury without protective gear.
A Unilever spokesperson said: "We would never allow our employees to suffer ill-health because of their employment with us and not address it.
"Several independent studies, carried out by experts on mercury-related health complaints, concluded that our former employees were not harmed by working in our factory in Kodaikanal. Contrary to other claims, there is no authoritative medical data from any report showing that our operations at Kodaikanal caused illness."