Superstar Rajinikanth, who recently announced to float an independent political party in Tamil Nadu with the launch of a website and mobile app on New Year occasion, has been facing a question mark from a Mumbai-based social networking startup VoxWeb.
VoxWeb claims that the logo of Rajini Mandram app, launched by the South Indian actor looks very similar to its logo.
Tamil actor Rajinikanth who urged his fan clubs and the people of Tamil Nadu to join him in the “fight against corruption”, launched “Rajini Mandram”, where people can register as members.
The logo of Rajini Mandram is a ‘baba mudra’ against a blue backdrop encircled by a serpent in black. The web and mobile apps aim to bring all Rajini fans on a single platform.
Voxweb has a similar brand logo with a maroon background. Unlike Rajini Mandram, the social networking app logo has left ‘thumb’ free.
According to Yash Mishra, founder of VoxWeb, Social media platforms are being accused of favouring political parties during elections and using their algorithms to promote that kind of content. People are already asking the company if it is favouring Rajnikanth’s outfit or if it has any common investors.
Mishra openly denies of any relationship between the company and the party or its ideology. The startup has since approached the actor over the issue but is yet to hear from him.
“If another company or brand has a similar logo, it will not matter much. But social media and political parties have quite a few similar traits – they have mass adoption, they are really close to their user base and so on. This creates a conflict,” said Mishra.
VoxWeb, which was founded in 2014 by Mishra, is a mobile-first, special purpose social network app. Available on iOS and Android platforms, it facilitates creating selfies that can speak upon touching, called ‘Voxies’.
VoxWeb has also begun working with various government ministries. It partnered with the Ministry of Ayush for the International Yoga Day, held last year.
‘Voxies’ has been approached by many politicians and celebrities. The company claims that its 11-second speaking pic or a ‘Voxie’ is a highly effective and engaging way to communicate to the young audience on social media.
The report was first published in NDTV.
