Barely a month after withdrawing a controversial advertisement, which promoted ‘Love Jihad’, Tanishq has upset the Hindus once again, advising them how to celebrate the Diwali festival.
The latest advertisement, Tanishq urges Hindus to refrain from bursting firecrackers during this Diwali! In the ad, a model says, “… Definitely no firecrackers, I don’t think anyone should light any firecrackers. But a lot of diyas, lot of laughter hopefully and lot of positivity.” The anti-Hindu ad drew wide criticisms on social media.
Karnataka MLA and BJP National General Secretary CT Ravi slammed the company for trying to ‘advise Hindus’ how to celebrate their festivals. He also stated that companies should not ‘lecture’ about refraining from bursting crackers.
“Why should anyone advice Hindus on how to celebrate our festivals? Companies must focus on selling their products, not lecture us to refrain from bursting Crackers. We will light lamps, distribute sweets and burst green crackers. Please join us. You will understand Ekatvam (sic),” he wrote, flagging the ad.
In response to this, Netizens once again trended #BoycottTanishq on social media and asked the brand to not ‘defame the culture’. They accuse the advertisement of being Hinduphobic by trying to establish that only Hindu festivals contribute to pollution. Finally, Tanishq has taken down the advertisement from its social media handles after social media outrage.
Earlier, an advertisement for Tanishq’s ‘Ekatvam’ collection, hurting the pride of Hindu women, had invited criticism from various corners. Following this, people on various social media platforms had called for the boycott of the jewellery brand Tanishq. Tanishq had to withdraw the controversial advertisement, which promoted ‘Love Jihad’, ‘considering the sentiments that were hurt due to it’.
