A still from the new Tanishq ad
Barely a day after it was viciously trolled by the right wing ‘online warriors’ on Twitter for an advertisement depicting a Muslim family conducting the pre-birth ritual of ‘god bharai’ for their Hindu daughter-in-law, jewellery brand Tanishq took down the advertisement. The trolls went into a frenzy and accused the advertisement of “glorifying love jihad”.
Titan Ltd owned jewellery brand Tanishq’s latest campaign ahead of the festive season of Dussehra, and Diwali, was about intercultural, and interreligious love and harmony, and was titled “Ekatvam” (Oneness). However, for the trolls on the look out to spread hate this 5-second ad featuring a Muslim family celebrating a traditional Hindu ceremony for their pregnant daughter-in-law, was ‘love jihad’.
The term itself has been created and glorified by right wing by Hindu extremist groups who use it to attack any Hindu-Muslim couple. According to them Hindu women are being lured into love and marriage by Muslim men. The right wing fuels the hate narrative that there is an alleged ‘campaign’ to convert Hindu girls via marriage to become Muslims.
The Tanishq advertisement showing one such family, where the Hindu woman is pregnant and is being shown much love and respect by her Muslim in-laws has irked the supremascits groups which thrive on anti-minority rhetoric. According to a news report, Tanishq is yet to make any statement on its decision to withdraw the campaign.The advertisement was released on October 9, trolled on October 12, and withdrawn on October 13.
The brand was criticised by trolls for promoting ‘fake secular sentiment’. Trolls also accused it of “hurting feelings of a particular religious community” reported the Mint. All day, on October 12 the hashtag #BoycottTanishq trended and called for a ban on the advertisement and a boycott of the jewellery brand.
The BARE MINIMUM we should do is #BoycottTanishq till next Dhanteras. This nonsense will pervade and pervert if we take it lightly. Just taking down the ad is not sufficient. The concept designers should be kicked where it hurts. https://t.co/2WRWc9OkwQ
— Neeraj Atri (@AtriNeeraj) October 13, 2020
Meanwhile, many, such as Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor tweeted in support of the “Hindu-Muslim “ekatvam”
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
Advertising experts believe the new campaign is in line with the brand’s core way of communicating with consumers, stated a report in The Mint, quoting Sambit Mohanty, creative head (South), McCann Worldgroup India, the ad nicely depicted a confluence of two religions using a family ‘godh bharai’ or baby shower as backdrop. He added, “Rather, it portrays a picture of harmony, love and genuine affection – which is the idea of India. That said, religion is an extremely touchy topic these days and brands usually stay away from such narratives. Though it isn’t wrong, it’s very bold of Tanishq to have tried something like this.”
Naresh Gupta, co-founder and chief strategy officer, Bang In The Middle, said there is not one thing that is wrong in the campaign, “It’s sad that Tanishq bowed down to a few trolls and bigots. For me, it’s one one the best ads of 2020,” the Mint reported.
Make an ad promoting religious harmony.
Response by RW #BoycottSurfExcelMake an ad promoting religious harmony.
Response by RW #BoycottRedLabelMake an ad promoting religious harmony.
Response by RW #BoycottTanishqOk Simple ad.
Response by RW#BoycottHindustanUnilever pic.twitter.com/NjIcEs2pAZ— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) October 12, 2020
According to a report in The Print, over 17,000 people had tweeted with the hashtag calling for a ban on the advertisement and a boycott of the jewellery brand. Following the backlash the YouTube link for the ad was made private, making it unavailable for people to view it, it stated.
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