Dairy brand Lullaa faces ongoing backlash after apologising for parking Bentley in mobility spot
The owner-operators of an award-winning dairy company say they’re facing ongoing criticism despite apologising for promoting their brand with an image showing their Bentley parked in a mobility spot.
Hamilton-based Vibhah and Vineet Shiriwastow, who run wellness company Four Leaves Co, are still dealing with a backlash from some in the disabled community after promoting their latest product while their Bentley Continental was parked in a designated mobility space.
The image was shared on their Lullaa milk brand’s social media channels, where viewers soon spotted the faux pas and questioned why they had parked there.
The brand removed the image, but not before it was reshared in a public Facebook group that “names and shames” those caught breaching mobility parking rules.
Several members took offence at the brand’s light-hearted responses to commenters’ concerns, including one that said, “no mobility parks were harmed in the making of this TikTok”, and encouraged others in the group to lodge complaints.
Some had even sent the brand threatening and intimidating messages, while their Bentley had been recorded as a stolen vehicle on CarJam.
Speaking to the Herald, the Shiriwastows said they typically take a picture each time they deliver an order to stockists and the image in question was taken after they delivered products to FreshChoice as an internal record.
The pair said they had turned the car around, briefly stopped in the mobility space while the car was running, took the photo and left within about a minute.
“We owned our mistake, we rectified it, we acknowledged it, and we took that photo down,” Vineet Shiriwastow said.
“We knew we were in the wrong ... and we learned from that. That was it, and we apologised to everyone who personally emailed us.”
The Shiriwastows said they accepted the incident “shouldn’t have happened at all”, but despite conveying their regret to complainants, a minority continued to escalate the situation.
Vibhah Shiriwastow said they removed the image after learning it had been reshared and stopped responding to some queries because they believed their replies were fuelling the backlash.
The FreshChoice store had also fielded criticism after allegedly giving the pair permission to park temporarily, but Vineet Shiriwastow said it was a third party that shouldn’t be involved.
FreshChoice did not respond to questions.
Nevertheless, the years spent getting the Lullaa product ready for market had been clouded by the backlash at home, and Vibhah Shiriwastow was “disappointed that we’ve actually had to come to this bridge to cross it”.
“In my time, I have not ever parked in a disabled car park to jump out to get as much as a pie,” he said.
“We’re human ... It takes a real person to actually acknowledge their mistake and own it.
“We’ve acknowledged and owned it, but people have turned it around on us to try and destroy our company, and this company is actually meant to be better for New Zealand.”
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