Recently, Twitter blocked AMUL’s account for a cartoon- Exit the dragon -which called for a boycott of Chinese products. After widespread outrage from the social media community, the account was restored and a few hours after the restoration of the account, AMUL pinned that tweet to its profile
#Amul Topical: About the boycott of Chinese products… pic.twitter.com/ZITa0tOb1h
— Amul.coop (@Amul_Coop) June 3, 2020
The company received overwhelming support from Indians, cutting across the social and political spectrum. So far, the tweet has more than 86 thousand likes and 42 thousand retweets.
This shows the popularity of Amul, which has become synonymous with dairy products in the last few decades. Amul’s advertisements are as popular as its products, and people across the country love and adore the brand.
Amul is so influential in the country that its opposition to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) became one of the primary reasons behind the Modi government’s refusal to enter the free trade deal.
Dairy farmers, led by Amul, have strongly resisted the deal as it would have opened Indian markets to Australian and Kiwi (New Zealand) farmers. The farmers from these countries produce cheaper and better quality dairy products given the availability of land and subsidies from the government. The Indian dairy farmers are not yet ready to compete with farmers from these countries, and therefore, they opposed RCEP.
The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, had to personally ensure Amul’s MD, R S Sodhi, that the government would take no decision which would harm milk producers and dairy sector.
“Goyal has assured that no decision will be taken by the Centre that will adversely affect the milk-producers in the country. The decision was conveyed to hundreds of milk producers who assembled in Anand on Thursday to mark the 74th Foundation Day of Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited (better known as AMUL),” said Sodhi.
On behalf of 36 lac co-op milk producers of Gujarat, we wish to thank Hon PM @narendramodi for his exemplary leadership and support to 10 crore milk producer families of India. Your vision of supporting their livelihood will help doubling their incomes and make India stronger
— Amul.coop (@Amul_Coop) November 4, 2019
After India ditched RCEP to protect the interest of its farmers, the company thanked Prime Minister and tweeted, “On behalf of 36 lac co-op milk producers of Gujarat, we wish to thank Hon PM @narendramodifor his exemplary leadership and support to 10 crore milk producer families of India. Your vision of supporting their livelihood will help doubling their incomes and make India stronger,” tweeted Amul, applauding the government’s decision to pull out of RCEP and protect the dairy sector.
The company also dedicated a wonderful cartoon to the Prime Minister.
#Amul Topical: Interest of farmers, small firms and dairy sector
safe-guarded in India’s non-signing of RCEP… pic.twitter.com/SfyRFgDV4E— Amul.coop (@Amul_Coop) November 5, 2019
Amul is India’s largest food product organization, with an annual turnover of close to USD 5.1 billion in 2019-20. Above all, in India, Amul is a household name, and seldom will one be unable to find an Amul product in any Indian home.
The cooperative firm was established in 1946 at the behest of Sardar Patel and nurtured by D Verghese Kurien, whose birthday is celebrated as National Milk Day, who joined in 1949.
Dr Kurien was the brain behind the Amul girl that features frequently in the Amul advertisements. He gave Sylvester Da Cunha of Da Cunha Communications (a firm that handles the PR of Amul), the creative liberty to release advertisements which till now is sustained. He established Amul as a brand that could take on the mighty ones in the business.
Indians were outraged over Amul’s handle being blocked by Twitter, for a country like China, which has itself banned the microblogging site. This shows the kind popularity the brand enjoys among common India, and it is more than just a consumer product for the people of the country.
