Some marketing mavens may think any publicity is good publicity but Amaresh Manna has no intention to milk his plight that has caught countless eyeballs.

“Ota khub baje kotha. Aami porey bujhechhi. Kintu aamra ota chhapatey chaini kokhono. Aamake aar aamar koromochari der niye sabai ekhon moja korchey (It is a very bad word. I understood later what it means. We never wanted to print something like this. People are now making fun of me and my employees),” Manna told Metro on Friday.

The “bad word” he referred to is “barbaric”, which unfortunately made it to the visiting card of his barbershop or salon because of a phonetic similarity.

“All kinds of barbaric activities are done at a reasonable price and at your home. We are always ready to extend our helping hands,” reads the calling card of Modern Saloon, located in Salt Lake.

Manna, the proprietor of Modern Saloon, said he had instructed the printer to write “barber work” on the card but somehow the printed phrase became “barbaric activities”.

The card was manna from heaven for the take-no-prisoners world of trolls, which pounced on the word “barbaric” and made merry. Over the past few days, the card has been zipping from one smartphone to another, crossing borders and logging thousands of miles. Some Calcuttans have received forwards of the card from Britain, Kozhikode in Kerala, Bangalore and several other cities.