Pihu’s viral marketing is traumatising people with calls from a crying child

Several people have complained on Twitter of receiving a phone call from a crying child, which has turned out to be a part of the marketing for the upcoming thriller, Pihu.

In what appears to be an ill-conceived viral marketing campaign, the makers of the upcoming film Pihu are promoting the movie by prank calling people. Several unsuspecting Twitter users have complained of getting a phone call from a crying child, only to receive a link to the film’s trailer after they tried calling the number back in a panic.

Pihu has been slated for a November 16 release.

Journalist Sudhir Srinivasan wrote on Twitter that he had received “a call from an anonymous number. A baby wailed about her mother and dad, and hung up. Disturbed, I tried calling back in vain. Got a message with a link to help the child. A link, as it turns out, of #Pihu’s trailer. A horrible idea, a disgusting invasion of privacy.”

Another person wrote that while they loved the film’s trailer, which was released earlier this week and has amassed close to 4 million views already, they were disturbed at the marketing. “Movie marketing has reached absurd levels,” they wrote.

“I am so traumatised,” wrote another. Here are some reactions:

Several Bollywood stars such as Amitabh Bachchan, Swara Bhaskar and Bhumi Pednekar had raved about the film’s ‘gut-wrenching,’ ‘outstanding’ and ‘uncomfortable’ trailer, which showed a two-year-old left to fend for herself after her mother dies abruptly.

Pihu has been produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur and directed by Vinod Kapri. The film has been slated for a November 16 release.

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