A Bengaluru-based entrepreneur has sparked a wider conversation on aggressive digital marketing after alleging that he was repeatedly spammed on WhatsApp by official business accounts associated with grooming brand Bombay Shaving Company.
The issue gained attention after Debajyoti Jena shared a detailed post on LinkedIn describing what he called excessive promotional messaging from the company.
Founder alleges repeated promotional messages
In his post, Jena claimed he was receiving marketing messages from three separate official WhatsApp business accounts linked to the brand.
According to him, the messages arrived multiple times a day and collectively amounted to nearly nine communications daily.
Jena said the frequency became so overwhelming that he eventually blocked multiple business numbers associated with the company.
While noting that he admired the company’s journey and respected its founder, he questioned whether such aggressive outreach was intentional and whether the leadership team was aware of the volume of communication being sent to customers.
Questions raised over marketing practices
The entrepreneur also tagged senior members of the company’s leadership team and urged them to review their customer engagement practices.
He argued that excessive messaging risked alienating customers rather than strengthening brand loyalty.
To support his claims, Jena shared screenshots that allegedly showed the volume and frequency of messages he had received.
His post quickly gained traction online, prompting users to discuss the growing use of WhatsApp as a direct marketing channel by consumer brands.
CEO responds to criticism
Bombay Shaving Company CEO Shantanu Deshpande responded to the concerns in the comments section.
He acknowledged the issue and apologised for the customer’s experience, stating that the situation should not have occurred.
Deshpande said the company was attempting to balance meaningful customer engagement with avoiding customer fatigue and assured users that improvements would be made.
Social media divided
The discussion attracted mixed reactions from users.
Several consumers said they had experienced similar situations with frequent promotional messages and felt that excessive outreach often led them to mute or block brands altogether.
Others argued that WhatsApp has become an important customer engagement tool for direct-to-consumer brands. However, even supporters of such marketing strategies stressed that message frequency must be carefully managed to avoid irritating customers.
The incident has once again highlighted the challenge brands face in maintaining customer engagement without crossing the line into intrusive communication.