Why FIITJEE newspaper advertisement, mocking its former student, is being slammed

FIITJEE, a dream coaching institute for all aspiring engineers in India, is now facing backlash, not because of its teaching pattern, but for the latest advertisement it got published on the front page of a newspaper.

FIITJEE prepares students for engineering entrance entrance including JEE.

FIITJEE slammed for ad

In the advertisement, FIITJEE opted to give a wrong example to promote itself. It used a photograph of a girl student, who bagged a 99.99 NTA score in JEE Main 2024, and said her performance declined and she could have secured a 100 if she remained with them and not shifted to an “EVIL Institute from Kota (now in Delhi) with a history of suicides”.

“She was a top performer at FIITJEE Delhi-NCR and has now performed behind many FIITJEE students,” FIITJEE claimed and is now being outrightly criticised.

What did FIITJEE ad say?

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Referring to the girl, the FIITJEE full front-page advertisement read: “She started her journey with FIITJEE in Class IX in December 2020 and her 80 per cent of JEE Main and Advanced course was already over when her parents were lured by this EVIL institute. She was a top performer at FIITJEE Delhi-NCR and has now performed behind many FIITJEE students. With the pedigree of FIITJEE, she would have achieved NTA Score 99.99 even her self-student. So, the contribution of the EVIL Institute in her performance is -ve. Had she remained with FIITJEE, she could have achieved a clear 100 NTA Score,”

How did it come to fore?

FIITJEE’s controversial advertisement came into people’s attention when Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, Katyayani Sanjay Bhatia, took to social media platform X, sharing the promotion by the institute.

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The IRS officer blurred the picture of the girl, while sharing the ad on X, and said she had done so as she “don’t believe in this disgusting way of claiming your superiority by belittling a girl child.”

‘Disgusting way of claiming superiority’

“A new low in advertisements FIITJEE. You are posting a picture of a child saying she performed badly because she left your institute! I have blurred the picture because I don’t believe in this disgusting way of claiming your superiority by belittling a girl child,” she posted.

‘Shameful’

Bhatia further called the move by FIITJEE “shameful” for “claiming superiority by claiming that she would have performed had she been in your institute?”

She even accused the institute of shaming a student for not performing. “We talk about parents putting pressure on kids for IIT JEE, but what about this manner of advertising where you shame a student for not performing? And claiming superiority by claiming that she would have performed had she been in your institute?” Bhatia said.

A new low in advertisements @fiitjee . You are posting the picture of a child saying that she performed badly because she left your institute! I have blurred the picture because I don't believe in this disgusting way of claiming your superiority by belittling a girl child. pic.twitter.com/W18Rd9rh1s

— Katyayani Sanjay Bhatia (@katyayani13) March 17, 2024

‘Cheap FIITJEE’

The FIITJEE newspaper advertisement used “history of suicides” as a parameter to lure potential students.

“And it doesn’t stop here. They are claiming about their superiority by talking about the institute with a ‘history of suicides’. Shameful. Suicides in Kota are an issue that concerns us all above petty competition but claiming in this manner is cheap@fiitjee,” Bhatia said, tagging the Ministry of Education to the post.

‘No right to shame students to claim superiority’

Tagging the education ministry, Ministry of Women & Child Development (WCD), as well as Union Minister Smriti Irani, Bhatia said, “Such advertising malpractices need to be checked-no institute has the right to shame students to claim it’s superiority.”

‘Undue pressure of students’

She further said, “To publish a student’s picture in a national daily saying that they couldn’t perform is disgusting and puts such undue pressure on students… And goes without saying (even though I have competed for competitive examinations) that getting into IIT really isn’t everything. Life indeed is how you respond to situations, not how you just win. The examination of life is really beyond such petty messaging by FIITJEE.”