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My Festivals Are Not Occasions For Your Virtue-Signalling

Anand Krishna

The attack on Hindu belief system via unethical advertisements has become a common occurrence. Here is a look at instances from the past.

Recently Bharat Matrimony came under fire after their recent advertisement on Holi and International Women’s Day courted controversy over religious sentiments. The advertisement shows a woman washing off the Holi colours from her face and once the colours start to fade, there appear bruises on her skin. And the captions read: “Some colours don’t wash away easy.” Even though the advertisement is thought-provoking, it takes rather an extraordinary route of correlating the Hindu belief system with abuse suffered by women. The violence faced by women in this country is indeed an important issue that needs to be addressed by any means, but, oddly, such a social message is pushed by donning the colours of the Hindu religion; as if it is only during Holi that women are abused. It seems that Hindu festivals like Diwali, Holi, etc are under constant attack, be it in the form of giving Hindu colour to social issues or deliberate attempts to mock the Hindu belief system. These recent events thus give us an impetus to look into instances in the past that have demonstrated offensive attitudes towards the Hindu religion in form of advertisements.

“Idea of secularism should be ‘equality for all and appeasement for none’ and in case of Indian ad industry we can see a constant appeasement of minority and ignorance of the feelings of majority. By propagating pseudo-secularism, the ‘Left-Liberal’ ad agencies and brands conveniently places burden of secularism on already burdened shoulders of poor Hindu community without any obligations from the part of minority communities.”

Wild Stone Advertisement Featuring Bengali Women (2007)


Deodorant ads often use sexual imagery and degrade women to extreme levels. Women, for years, have been protesting such obscene portrayals of their sexuality. Wild Stone deodorant was promoted in an advertisement that caused some controversy. Set amidst the backdrop of Durga Puja, it showed a married woman in traditional Bengali attire being drawn to fantasize about having intercourse with another man right after she bumps into him accidentally, courtesy of the “wild” fragrance. The Bengali community got deeply offended by such blasphemy and protested the defamation of their holy celebrations. 

Manforce Advertisement Featuring Sunny Leone (2017)

A Manforce advertisement featuring Sunny Leone on its poster was released during Navratri to promote condom sales in Gujarat. Later, due to public outrage, the company was forced to withdraw the ad following public outcry. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) urged the then Union Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan to act against Mankind Pharma and its brand ambassador for misleading consumers. 

“Though they have not used the word condom in their banner but the intention is very clear as the combination of words like ‘play’, ‘love’ and ‘Navratri’ are coined above the large logo of Manforce“, CAIT National Secretary Praveen Khandelwal wrote in the letter. The hoarding showed Leone on one side staring at the text written in Gujarati, “Ya Navratriyon Ramo Parantu Prem Thi”- which translates to, “Play during Navratri but with love”, between two dandiya sticks and above the Manforce logo. “Their large banners in cities across Gujarat are shouting out to encourage youths to use Manforce condoms in the name of Navratri festival,” Khandelwal said. Terming the advertisement as “derogatory”, he further said: “This is a clearly irresponsible and immature attempt to boost sales by putting our cultural value system at stake.”

Jawed Habib’s Ad Featuring Durga (2017)

Habib’s ad featuring the Hindu Goddess Durga and her four children in their salon enjoying a spa day did not settle well with the audience. The advertisement provoked the anger of the Hindu community, who felt that their Gods and Goddesses were always ridiculed in such campaigns. Some people even alleged that Jawed Habib had deliberately insulted Hindu sentiments and called him a Rohingya Muslim on social media. He apologized to the community while assuring them that he had no intention of hurting the sentiments of any community.

Surf Excel’s #RangLaayeSang (2019)

Unilever has faced backlash for its ads that portray Hindu-Muslim harmony during festivals. One ad for Surf Excel detergent showed a Hindu girl protecting a Muslim boy from Holi colours so he could go to the mosque. Another ad for Red Label tea showed a Hindu boy invoking Allah to please his Muslim friend. People accused the company of promoting ‘love jihad’ and insulting Hindu sentiments. They also questioned why Hindus were always shown as needing to be ‘reformed’ by Muslims in such ads.

Red Label Tea Advertisement Of Ganesh Chaturthi (2019)

Red Label tea has been criticised for its ad that shows a Hindu man reluctant to buy a Ganesh idol from a Muslim craftsman during Ganesh Chaturthi. The ad is part of the brand’s campaign to promote ‘togetherness’ and ‘harmony’ among different communities6. However, some people have accused the brand of portraying Hindus as bigots who need to be ‘reformed’ by Muslims and tea. They have also questioned why the brand does not show any other religious groups in a negative light. This is not the first time that Red Label has faced backlash for its ads that depict Hindu-Muslim relations.

Tanishq Advertisement Promoting ‘Love Jihad’ (2020)

 

 A Tanishq ad featuring an interfaith baby shower was pulled off air after a social media backlash. The ad showed a Hindu woman married to a Muslim man and her mother-in-law organising a god-bharai, a Hindu ceremony for her. The ad and the brand were called out for promoting ‘love jihad’ and hurting Hindu sentiments. Social media users cited cases of Hindu women being forced to convert to Islam by their Muslim partners. They also quoted brutal hacking instances where Hindu boys or girls were hacked to death by their Muslim lovers/families. There have also been innumerable instances where Hindu women were forced to convert to Islam and marry Muslim men.

After receiving severe backlash, Tanishq had to pull down the advertisement. In an official statement, the Tanishq spokesperson said, “We are deeply saddened with the inadvertent stirring of emotions and withdraw this film keeping in mind the hurt sentiments and wellbeing of our employees, partners, and store staff.”

Fab India Diwali Advertisement Campaign (2021)

Fabindia faced online outrage over its Diwali ad that used an Urdu phrase. The clothing brand tweeted an ad for its festive collection, calling it ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’ (celebration of customs). Several social media users called out the brand for hurting the Hindu community’s sentiments and demanded a boycott of Fabindia. The brand later deleted the tweet 

Advertisement by AU Small Finance Bank (2022)

 

AU Bank faced criticism for its ad featuring Aamir Khan and Kiara Advani. Director Vivek Agnihotri took to Twitter to question the ad rolled out by the bank featuring actors Aamir Khan and Kiara Advani. Agnihotri tweeted, “I just fail to understand since when banks have become responsible for changing social and religious traditions?” The ad showed a Hindu wedding where the groom, played by Khan, moved into his bride’s house after Vidaai. The ad claimed to promote change and gender equality. However, it only came off as if the bank was disrespecting Hindu traditions. AU Bank later withdrew the ad from Twitter.

Dabur ‘Lesbian Karwa Chauth’ Advertisement (2021)

 

Another advertisement by Dabur that showed a lesbian couple celebrating Karwa Chauth landed the brand in trouble. Dabur’s new ad for its bleaching product featured a lesbian couple preparing for their first Karwa Chauth. The ad aimed to normalise same-sex relationships, but it backfired. The LGBTQ community slammed the ad for endorsing a “regressive” festival and a fair-skin obsession. The ad offended both the supporters and the critics of Karwa Chauth. The former disliked the brand’s promotion of fair skin, while the latter denounced the festival as a backward practice. Karwa Chauth has often faced scorn and ridicule from the liberals. Karwa Chauth has often been criticised by the left-liberals as a festival that promotes patriarchy. By contrast, they maintain a deafening silence when it comes to calling out traditions of other religions that are patently racist, misogynistic, and regressive.

The idea of secularism should be ‘equality for all and appeasement for none’ and in the case of the Indian ad industry we can see constant minority appeasement and ignorance of the feelings of majority. By propagating pseudo-secularism, the ‘Left-Liberal’ ad agencies and brands conveniently place the burden of secularism on already burdened shoulders of the poor Hindu community without any obligations from the part of minority communities.

The idea of secularism should be ‘equality for all and appeasement for none’ and in the case of the Indian ad industry we can see constant minority appeasement and ignorance of the feelings of majority. By propagating pseudo-secularism, the ‘Left-Liberal’ ad agencies and brands conveniently place the burden of secularism on already burdened shoulders of the poor Hindu community without any obligations from the part of minority communities.

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