Note:- The following write-up is a full-fledged opinion of the author, and you may agree or disagree with him. Please don’t try to spread hate. If you disagree then please move on from the topic. Thanks!

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I am sure 99% of people don’t even know that Byju’s has two other subsidiaries other than WhiteHat Jr. The reason is ADS! Byju’s surely saw potential in WhiteHat Jr. which was just a startup, and after acquiring it, they immediately started its publicity.

Advertisements are intended with a goal to create a positive persona of the firm amongst the common masses. But it appears that WhiteHat Jr. has totally fumbled to reach its goal.

Advertisements of WhiteHat Jr.

The advertisement of WhiteHat Jr. has been questioned by many people. WhiteHat Jr. is an online application that helps in building coding, and algorithm-based thinking skills for kids (5-12 years) by providing them one-to-one teaching process.





The advertisement shows few investors who apparently look like Chinese or Korean or Japanese are fighting amongst themselves. Reason? An app designed by a kid named Chintu. Parents of Chintu are just looking at this fight and answering their neighbour that they are fighting for Chintu’s app. Neighbour gets stunned by looking at 7-year-old Chintu who apparently has designed an app. WhiteHat Jr. is given credit for Chintu’s brilliance. Seriously Indian advertisements need to be better than this!

This cringey advertisement has been the reason for the negativity of WhiteHat Jr. Though they understood their mistake, and made a comeback by launching multiple ads with the presence of actors like Sonu Sood, Madhuri Dixit, Hrithik Roshan, R Madhavan, Mahesh Babu, and athletes like Shikhar Dhawan and Deepa Malik. But it was too late!

A Byju’s connection?

Byju’s is an online educational application founded by Byju Raveendran at Bangalore in 2011. Well, why are we talking about it? The reason is, WhiteHat Jr. is a subsidiary of Byju’s. This ain’t Byju’s first subsidiary. They already had acquired TutorVista, Osmo and their recent acquisition was a startup called WhiteHat Jr. Byju’s parent company Think and Learn Private Ltd. owns WhiteHat Jr. Byju’s has always been involved in controversies or has been in talks since 2016. Recently they have been named as the most valued ed-tech company! And they have been working very hard to stay in limelight too. They replaced Oppo as the title sponsor of the Indian Cricket Team jersey. They also have Shahrukh Khan and Mahesh Babu, both renowned actors as their brand ambassadors.





Well, this has caught Byju’s more negative publicity than positive. But all the above points do look like they should contribute to the firm’s positive image but it hasn’t been the case. The rumours of heavy Chinese investments in the firm hampered its image. This happened after the Galwan clash which was followed by the online Chinese Boycott movement. Byju’s actually never enjoyed a positive image in the public. It has either been neutral or negative (Thanks to their advertisements!).

This surely has impacted WhiteHat Jr.'s image too! Subconsciously, Byju’s image has been compared with WhiteHat Jr. Nearly every hate post of WhiteHat Jr. has a mention of Byju’s. WhiteHat Jr. was not even known to the regular masses until it was acquired by Byju’s and this made it the target. Just think, what would have been your response if WhiteHat Jr. was not a subsidiary of Byju’s?

Consecutive Negativity and its spread :

Byju’s image and WhiteHat Jr.'s advertisement have been the prime reason for its negativity. Firstly, let’s understand the hatred for WhiteHat Jr. India is a nation where lakhs of engineering graduates pass out, and most of them remain jobless for many years. Under such a scenario WhiteHat Jr.'s advertisement hurt the sentiments and emotions of current and mainly pass-out graduates.

Meme Community encashed this opportunity and made tons of Chintu and WhiteHat Jr. memes. Believe me! Just a name ‘BINOD’ can become a meme then Chintu and WhiteHat Jr. is far better than it. Memes helped spread negativity as if it were a wildfire. Consecutively every other person with a mobile now knows Chintu and WhiteHat Jr.

Personal Opinion :

Everything in this world has flaws. WhiteHat Jr. isn’t the epitome of perfection. It has its pros and cons. But WhiteHat Jr. works on a business model that involves children. This is the prime concern. Excessive Mobile and Laptop usage can ruin a kid’s life, and we are talking about kids around 5-12 years! At the age where children are expected to peacefully enjoy their life along with their basic studies and academics, learning coding at such a young age can divert their mind, and make them computer worms.





Children at such a tender age can be moulded very easily, and people who know about coding surely would understand what impact it has on one’s mind. The current scenario of the COVID-19 crisis and subsequent lockdown has made people and especially kids much more addicted to smartphones and PCs. They have forgotten outdoor games and exercise completely! Many coders always complain about body pains and especially back pains and eye strains (I am neglecting mental strain and other psychological issues). Just think, what would happen if kids start coding at 5 years. Will they remain fit and healthy until 40 years?

The question is, ‘Is it necessary for a kid to learn coding at the age of five?’ The answer is NO! It isn’t a kid’s decision, parents will forcefully make their child sit for WhiteHat Jr. coding class. The kid’s interest will hardly be taken into account. We all know what happens when someone is forced into something then just think what will happen to a kid who has to go through these coding classes.

WhiteHat Jr. is not making a business out of coding tutorials instead it is selling the hypothetical bright future of kids to their parents. This is dangerous, and I quote it as cancerous to the society! Parents who don’t even have an idea of coding will forcefully make their kids learning coding via WhiteHat Jr. This is possible only due to their misleading advertisements.

Personally, I am against the advertisement policy of WhiteHat Jr. though some tinkering in their advertisement and business model can be beneficial for kids as well as the society. WhiteHat Jr. can provide employability in multiple sectors starting from Teaching to Digital Marketing. Looking at the bright side of WhiteHat Jr., it will surely Upskill the future generation of India with much better coding and algorithm skills but apart from that WhiteHat Jr. will hardly make any other positive impact in a kid’s life.

We all would agree that WhiteHat Jr. did make a misleading advertisement but they have realised it and replaced it with a better one which is less cringe-worthy and is to the point. Whether this firm will benefit society or not is another aspect, but WhiteHat Jr. will surely emerge as one of the top business models.