A few days back, a seemingly shattered Asha Sharath appeared on her Facebook page and revealed that her husband had gone missing. In the video, the actress requested the general public to help her, so that she can find her lost husband.
The actress also urged social media users to contact Kattappana police station if they find any clues about her husband's whereabouts.
The video soon went viral, and it racked up more than one million views within a few hours. Most of the social media users who saw the video assured Asha that they will do their best to find her missing husband.
However, it was revealed later that Asha fabricated the video to promote her new Mollywood movie 'Evide', that features the story of a middle-aged woman who is in search of her lost husband.
As the reality started unfolding, Asha Sharath started receiving widespread criticism from social media users, with many people arguing that the actress has misused a platform like Facebook for her personal gain. People also alleged that such acts will negatively affect the credibility of genuine videos which people upload on Facebook and Twitter.
As criticisms started pouring in, Asha Sarath changed the title of the video to 'Evide promotion video'. However, social media users are not convinced, and they are now urging the general public to boycott the movie.
In the meantime, a lawyer from Kerala has apparently filed a police complaint against Asha Sharath for uploading misleading videos on social media platforms.
This is not the first time that such a sensitive marketing strategy is being used in Malayalam cinema. In 1990, when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was still in school, an advertisement appeared in many Malayalam newspapers about a girl who lost her memory following a road accident.
A telephone number was also given along with this advertisement, and people who called to that number later realized that it was part of the marketing strategy for 'Innale', starring Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, and Shobhana in the lead roles.
