(Updated on 04 Aug to include Hindustan Unilever's response)
An Indian rapper’s music video has put the spotlight on consumer giant Unilever and its CEO Paul Polman over mercury-related liabilities in a bio-diverse region around the town of Kodaikanal in southern India, bringing attention to a 14-year-old mercury contamination issue like never before.
Singer-rapper Sofia Ashraf’s three-minute rap video ‘Kodaikanal Won’t’ is sung to the beats of Nicki Minaj’s racy hit, Anaconda, but its lyrics want Unilever to "make amends now". It asks viewers to sign a petition prevailing on Unilever to clear the toxic mercury in the soil and to compensate its former workers.
Since it was uploaded last week, the viral video is fast closing in on a million hits. Even Minaj re-tweeted a link to the copycat.
The story goes back to over a decade. Unilever’s Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Lever, raised the hackles of local activists for abandoning its thermometer factory after shutting it down following prolonged pressure from groups such as Greenpeace. The factory made thermometers for the American and European markets from mercury imported from the United States. India has no facility for processing mercury waste. The activists then forced it to ship some 300 tons of mercury-contaminated material and waste from the factory back to the United States. The battles have continued since that time.
The rap song urges Unilever CEO Paul Polman to compensate the former workers at the factory of Unilever’s Indian unit, Hindustan Unilever, who had been exposed to toxic mercury. Environmental groups have accused the multinational of failing to clean up the mercury waste, thus harming the forests of Kodaikanal. The rap song cleverly weaves in references to Unilever's best-selling products in India like Pepsodent toothpaste, Lifebuoy soap and Fair & Lovely skin whitening cream while tackling the consumer products giant.
The collaborative rap video was put out by public campaign group Jhatkaa.org, along with the the ex-mercury workers association among others. The campaigners urge the public to sign the petition or give a ‘missed call’ in support.
Jhatkaa.org campaigner Sonam Mittal said the rap video is meant to stir up mass engagement. “Unilever is a consumer brand that depends on the trust of the Indian public to meet its bottom line. If enough of us sign and hold Unilever accountable, the company will have no choice but to meet ex-workers’ demands,” she said in a statement.
The statement said Polman who is active on Twitter and often tweets about ‘business as a force for good’ has not responded to hundreds of tweets about the contamination in Kodaikanal.
A query to Unilever’s Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Unilever, has not been answered yet. In the past, it has disputed the soil contamination reports and refused any liability for illnesses in the region. (See subsequent response below)
Ashraf who is based in the south Indian city of Chennai has earlier rapped on behalf of victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984, considered the world’s worst industrial disaster. A gas leak from American multinational Union Carbide’s pesticide plant killed thousands and maimed thousands of residents in central India’s Bhopal town.
Full text of Hindustan Unilever's response:
The safety of all our employees is our number one priority. We have acted in a transparent and responsible manner since the issue first arose in 2001, when we immediately closed the factory and launched an investigation.
We have been rigorous in establishing the facts and several independent expert studies have concluded that there were no adverse impacts on the health of our people at Kodaikanal. We have also taken action to ensure the clean-up of soil within the factory premises. There is still work to do here – which we are committed to fulfilling – as soon as a decision on the level of remediation required is taken by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and consent given by them to start the soil remediation.
This is an issue which we continue to take very seriously and we have been engaging with our former workers’ representatives to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution. This is a long standing case and we would like to see it resolved for all involved.
In the interest of presenting the facts of the matter to all stakeholders, we have provided detailed and clear, factual information on our website: http://www.hul.co.in/Images/Update-on-Erstwhile-Kodaikanal-Factory_tcm114-195572.pdf
