MSD Parts Ways with Schbang Amidst Poonam Pandey Controversy

Pharmaceutical giant MSD has decided to sever ties with the advertising agency Schbang following the recent controversy surrounding the Poonam Pandey death stunt.

The move comes in the wake of widespread criticism following the staged incident, where Pandey faked her death as part of a cervical cancer awareness initiative, urging women to take the HPV vaccine.

Schbang, responsible for the creative concept, faced backlash for the controversial stunt, which implicated MSD, the manufacturer of the Gardasil vaccine targeting certain strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) linked to cervical cancer. The decision to part ways with Schbang reflects MSD's response to the negative fallout from the incident.