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A Bengaluru startup founder accused Bombay Shaving Company of flooding his WhatsApp with marketing messages. CEO Shantanu Deshpande apologised as the complaint sparked debate
A LinkedIn post by a Bengaluru entrepreneur has put Bombay Shaving Company’s marketing strategy under scrutiny (Image-LinkedIn/@Debajyoti Jena)
A Bengaluru-based entrepreneur has sparked a wider conversation about spam marketing after accusing Bombay Shaving Company of flooding his WhatsApp with promotional messages.
The controversy began when Debajyoti Jena, founder of The StartUp Circle, claimed that he had no choice but to block three official WhatsApp accounts operated by Bombay Shaving Company due to the sheer volume of messages being sent to him.
In his LinkedIn post, Jena alleged that the grooming brand was sending marketing communications multiple times a day from several business accounts simultaneously. According to him, the combined volume amounted to around nine promotional messages every day.
“Literally forced me. I’m not joking,” Jena wrote while sharing screenshots that he said demonstrated the frequency of the messages.
Tagging Bombay Shaving Company CEO Shantanu Deshpande, Jena questioned whether such repeated outreach was part of a deliberate customer acquisition strategy. He asked whether the founder himself would appreciate receiving nine promotional messages in a single day and whether the company genuinely believed that constantly filling customers’ inboxes would lead to higher revenues.
Jena also tagged members of the company’s leadership team, urging them to take responsibility for the messaging strategy. Expressing frustration, he said businesses should stop overwhelming customers with repeated promotional notifications and rethink how they engage with their audience.
The entrepreneur further noted that he rarely criticises founders or brands publicly. However, he said the constant stream of notifications had become “annoying and disgusting,” prompting him to speak out.
The post soon caught the attention of Shantanu Deshpande, who responded in the comments section and acknowledged the issue.
“Should not have happened honestly.. apologies for this.. we’re trying to balance meaningful outreach without annoying customers.. will do better so sorry for this experience,” Deshpande wrote.
His response did little to stop the conversation, as numerous LinkedIn users joined the discussion to share their own experiences and opinions about brand communication on messaging platforms.
One user wrote, “Honestly not surprised to see this Debajyoti Jena: We had a discussion with their team quite some time ago & it didn’t proceed because our ideologies didn’t match.
We recommended amplifying thought leadership (like all our clients) but appears they preferred the agency which took them this route (P.S. work being done this way .. means either they’ve hired a novice agency or they’re doing it in-house… chances of the latter are much higher)”
Another commented, “Same here. They are bugging so much I decided not to buy. Bombay Shaving Company.”
A third user suggested the approach may be coming from the top, writing, “(Shantanu Deshpande) he must be forcing the team to dot that, but sir it is not working.”
Others pointed to comments Deshpande had allegedly made in the past regarding the effectiveness of direct communication channels. One user remarked, “Shantanu mentioned on a podcast that a large chunk of their revenue comes from whatsapp and email. So I think it’s part of a larger strategy that even he agrees to.”
Not everyone felt public criticism would make a difference. Another commenter wrote, “I just block and mark as spam anyone I don’t need. It’s pointless to call them out as they are not gonna stop … these or others.”
The discussion also included a lighter response, with one user joking, “Maybe they are reminding you that you have not shaved hair from all parts of your entire body.”
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