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Jewellery brand pulls down ad as #BoycottTanishq trends online; Twitterati ask why

For their recent campaign for Ekatvam By Tanishq, the jewellery brand released an advertisement that showed a Muslim family preparing a traditional Hindu baby shower for their pregnant Hindu daughter-in-law.

tanishq, tanishq interfaith ad, Ekatvam By Tanishq, tanishq ad withdrawn, boycott tanishq trend, hindu muslim ads, viral news, indian expressThe company has now removed the ad from all its platforms.

Titan Group’s jewellery brand Tanishq has withdrawn a television advertisement after calls for boycott of the brand for depicting an interfaith marriage.

For their recent campaign for Ekatvam By Tanishq, the jewellery brand released an advertisement that showed a Muslim family preparing a traditional Hindu baby shower for their pregnant Hindu daughter-in-law. The description of the video on YouTube read, “She is married into a family that loves her like their own child. Only for her, they go out of their way to celebrate an occasion that they usually don’t. A beautiful confluence of two different religions, traditions, cultures.”

But the ad had mixed reactions online. While one faction thought it was a beautiful example of India’s religious harmony, others criticised it on social media and said it “promoted love jihad” and made #BoycottTanishq trend online, claiming it doesn’t show the reality of interfaith marriages.

However, as outrage against the ad grew, Tanishq officially removed the video from all their platforms. “We are deeply saddened with the inadvertent stirring of emotions and withdraw this film keeping in mind the hurt sentiments and well being of our employees, partners and store staff,” Tanishq said in a statement.

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The company said that the idea behind the campaign was to “celebrate the coming together of people from different walks of life, local communities and families during these challenging times”.

“This film has stimulated divergent and severe reactions, contrary to its very objective,” the statement added.

Many reacted to the ad being pulled down calling the outrage absurd as it was not promoting hate but unity. “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?” Congress MP Shashi Tharoor wrote on Twitter. Screenwriter Aniruddha Guha, commented: “LOL, we live in a time when an ad is withdrawn for literally *promoting* communal harmony. And we think COVID-19 is India’s deadliest virus right now.” Here’s how netizens reacted after the ad was pulled down.

 

First uploaded on: 13-10-2020 at 12:36 IST
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