After the #BoycottTanishq hashtag went viral on Twitter, Titan’s jewellery brand Tanishq has taken down the controversial advertisement from YouTube. The advertisement in question featured the baby shower function of a Hindu woman who had married into an Islamic household. After the several complaints that cited that it promoted love jihad, the ad no longer exists on their official page.
The advertisement shows a baby shower being hosted by a Muslim family for their Hindu daughter-in-law. Towards the end of the video, the young woman points out to her mother-in-law that baby shower is not a tradition in their household, with the mother-in-law replying: “Isn’t it a tradition for every home to keep daughters happy?”
This ad is for the brand’s new collection called Ekatvam, translating unity or oneness.
The ad received severe backlash from the Hindu community as the ad indirectly promoted targeting of Hindu girls by Muslim men. Several tweets flooded the microblogging platform with most of them calling out its cultural insensitivity.
One Tanishq showroom in Gujarat condemned the ad and apologised profusely for the ad.
This MESSAGE is For Hindu Girls- DONT FALL For Propaganda of brands like #tanishq which glorify Love Jihаd. See PITIABLE Condition of this Hindu Girl Victim of Love Jihаd .. beаten, told to convert after marriage, eat Bеef #BoycottTanishq #BoycottTanishqJewelry pic.twitter.com/B7JZbSJE3d
— Rosy (@rose_k01) October 13, 2020
Propaganda Vs Reality
🙏 Hindus must united 🙏#तनिष्क_माफी_मांग #tanishq #boycotttanishq pic.twitter.com/Q9P0HWkznv
— rishabhsaraswat (@saraswatrishab1) October 13, 2020
Similarly, a lot of people came in support of this particular advertisement, including Congress MPs Abhishek Singhvi and Shashi Tharoor.
Those boycotting the Tanishq ad don't like seeing daughter in law(s) happy around mother in law's. You have seen too many soaps & too much prime times news.
— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) October 13, 2020
So Hindutva bigots have called for a boycott of @TanishqJewelry for highlighting Hindu-Muslim unity through this beautiful ad. If Hindu-Muslim “ekatvam” irks them so much, why don’t they boycott the longest surviving symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity in the world — India? pic.twitter.com/cV0LpWzjda
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 13, 2020
However, Titan took down the ad stating that it had ‘stimulated divergent and severe reactions contrary to its objective’.
— Tanishq (@TanishqJewelry) October 13, 2020
Following the ad’s failure, Titan, which owns Tanishq fared poor at the stock markets on Tuesday. Its stock prices fell by 2.58% from Rs. 1,257.55 to Rs. 1,224.35. While the fall in share prices cannot be directly attributed to the ad episode, Titan saw its collective wealth erode by ₹2700 crores.