WhiteHouse Jr has been basking in the success of its online coding classes amid the ongoing pandemic, which has shut all schools and colleges. The ed-tech startup that gives online coding courses for children as young as six by instructors who are trained to coach young talent. But the successful startup found itself embroiled in various controversies and a new video has gone viral on social media to add fuel to the fire.

WhiteHat Jr is one of the few startups that turned profitable with its successful online coaching formula. It shot to fame during the pandemic when schools were shut and parents turned to WhiteHat Jr to keep their young ones occupied in productive lessons. 

Amidst all this glory, every now and then, WhiteHat Jr has been criticized. Now, a video allegedly showing a parent and a WhiteHat Jr instructor engaged in a Q&A session, where the parent is seen asking some coding-related questions. 

WhiteHat Jr

WhiteHat Jr instructor questioned on coding knowledge

The video has since gone viral on social media. The video, showing just the parent and the individual blurred out, has recieved mixed reactions. The person is seen asking some questions about coding, and the instructor fails to answer to his satisfaction. The parent asked alleged WhiteHat Jr to explain the difference between Java and Javascript.

"We use JavaScript to develop games. Java is a high programming level language," the alleged instructor said. When the parent asked what "high-programming level language is," the alleged WhiteHat Jr instructor admitted she doesn't know.

WhiteHat Jr viral video

WhiteHat Jr responded to the contents of the video and said that it is false and made with malicious intent to defame the brand. 

"This is a false video made with malicious intent to defame a responsible organisation," a WhiteHat Jr spokesperson told IBTimes.

But this is not the first time, WhiteHat Jr has been trolled. The company founder and CEO, Karan Bajaj, in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday, opened up about the online trolling and attempts to malign the brand. 

"We're listening and getting better daily as any two-year-old startup would. But tearing down is easy, building is hard. A teacher prepares for hours, scaffolding and building on her knowledge daily, to add value to the kid in class and transforms the kid's life. A troll works hard too but to tear things down to gain fame, followers, and perhaps fortune. Destroying value and lives in the process," Bajaj wrote. 

WhiteHat Jr ad controversies

It's highly unlikely that you haven't heard about WhiteHat Jr. Their aggressive marketing has made sure any parent would want to get a glance of what it is. Some ads have gone as far as to claim that the coding classes would help the kid become the next Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg. Another ad suggests kids trained through its coding classes get salaries of Rs 15 crore per year at Google. But five of its egregious ads were taken down after complaints to the Advertising Standards Council of India.

(Note: This article has been updated with WhiteHat Jr's statement about the incident).