Abhishek Malhan Breaks Silence on E20 Fuel Controversy; Says, "Video Is 1.5 Years Old..."

YouTuber Abhishek Malhan, popularly known as Fukra Insaan, has addressed the controversy surrounding a viral promotional reel about E20 (20% ethanol-blended fuel). The content creator recently faced criticism online after an old video promoting ethanol resurfaced on social media amid discussions about the fuel's impact on vehicles.

Breaking his silence through an Instagram video, Abhishek clarified that the reel in question was created nearly one and a half years ago and had already been removed from his social media platforms long before the current controversy erupted.

How the Controversy Began:

The debate gained momentum after fellow YouTuber Sourav Joshi shared concerns in a vlog about his car's mileage dropping, allegedly due to ethanol-blended fuel. However, Sourav later issued a clarification, stating that the problem was related to his vehicle's engine and not ethanol.

Referring to the sequence of events, Abhishek said, “Hi guys, I usually don't make such reels, but I want to tell you a small story. There is a YouTuber named Sourav Joshi who uploaded a vlog where he said that his car's mileage started decreasing because of ethanol and that his car might even break down. The next day, he posted an apology note and clarified that his car was not damaged because of ethanol and that there was an issue with his engine. Mercedes also posted a tweet related to it.”

Photo Credit: Instagram

"The Video Being Circulated Is 1.5 Years Old..."

According to Abhishek, the issue quickly turned into a larger debate, resulting in old clips being used against him. He said, “But in the middle of all this, a dirty political fight started between two sides. Obviously, they wanted to make someone the face of this issue, someone who had promoted ethanol. Suddenly, a lot of hate started appearing on my feed, where people were using my clips and saying, ‘Abhishek is promoting ethanol.' First of all, I want to clarify that the video being circulated is 1.5 years old, from when E20 was launched.”

The YouTuber also pointed out that several creators had participated in similar promotional campaigns at the time.

Claims Reel Was Part of a Brand Campaign:

Abhishek further explained that the campaign came through professional channels and was based on information available when E20 was introduced. “We received the campaign for that reel from Bharat Petroleum through my agency CollabX, which got me this campaign about a year ago,” he said.

He added that influencers promote products based on the knowledge available at the time and cannot predict how public opinion may evolve later.

"We Had Already Taken Down That Reel"

Emphasizing that he no longer promotes the content, Abhishek said, “We influencers promoted E20 when we had the information available to us. When we realized that it had become a controversial topic, with some people supporting it and some opposing it, we had already taken down that reel long ago.”

Concluding his message, he urged people not to drag creators into unrelated disputes and said the criticism being directed at him was unnecessary. According to Abhishek, the viral reel belongs to the past and should not be used to fuel present-day online hate.