Story

'Speak English like Shashi Tharoor,' says language app ad; Tharoor fumes

An endorsement by English language speaking app Blackboard Radio (BBR)- Learn English by Speaking, that tapped in on Shashi Tharoor's english speaking skills, has not gone well with the parliamentarian

Congress Member of Parliament and former UN Under Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor

Congress Member of Parliament and former UN Under Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor's mastery over the English language is known to all. An endorsement by English language speaking app Blackboard Radio (BBR)- Learn English by Speaking, that tapped in on the same, has not gone well with the parliamentarian.

Tharoor shared an image of the endorsement featuring him and tweeted that he does not endorse the application concerned in any way. The image features Tharoor with the caption, "Speak English as fluently as Shashi Tharoor". Tharoor tweeted, "This has been drawn to my attention by many unwitting students who were misled by this app. I wish to make it clear that I have NO connection to this app and have NOT endorsed it in any way. I will take legal action to stop the misuse of my name and image for commercial purposes."


The application followed this up by posting an apology on its Facebook page and removing all marketing material featuring Tharoor. Blackboard Radio's (BBR) apology on its Facebook page read, "We, at Blackboard Radio (BBR), unconditionally apologise to Dr. Shashi Tharoor for using his name and image in some of our marketing campaigns. Dr. Tharoor is not associated with BBR in any manner. We recognise how the marketing material might have been misleading and hence we have taken down all such marketing campaigns, across all platforms, with immediate effect."

Click here to Enlarge

However, netizens intervened and said to the minister that more than a marketing gimmick, the ad was a tribute to his language skills.