It’s almost the end of 2019 and the much awaited Ayodhya verdict is here. Curfews, section 144, circulation of hate messages, emerging of keyboard warriors on social media are few of the most common and expected repercussions.
However, few aspects of still remain passive and hence, goes into the pit of ‘lesser harmful’ acts. Ever thought, in a country which was once known for its unity in diversity, brands could get boycotted for just asking for harmony?
People who are exposed to the ‘free for all’ internet world might know very well about how ‘intolerance’ is a curse word. However, no one can deny its existence! People on internet are angrier than they ever were for unknown reasons. They might not know how their mere act of just typing long paragraphs could result in someones major loss.
Here, we talk about the affect of ‘divide and rule’ on the advertisement industry and how brands face loss for absolutely nothing. One such example is the most famous detergent brand, Surf Excel.
Indian Advertisements never fail to impress (or amuse). Be it the Coke ad with most catchy songs, be it Fanta with its jingles or be it Vodafone with its pug or Zoozoos! The same way, Detergent brand Surf Excel is also known for its heart-touching ad commercials. Their campaign ‘Daag Acche Hain’ has never failed to touch the hearts and it’s on everyone’s tongue since the day it has been telecasted. Surf Excel has been trying to prove the point that if you get stained while doing a good deed, then those stains are also good.
This time, it seems like even Surf Excel can’t wash the unnecessary stains on its own image. Earlier this year, the detergent brand has faced massive furore over its latest advertisement-cum-campaign ahead of Holi. The advertisement was alleged to hurt Hindu sentiments and as a result, extremist Twitteratis demanded to boycott Surf Excel.
On 27th February, the brand released an advertisement, trying to spread the message of Hindu-Muslim harmony. The one-minute long ad features two kids a young Hindu girl and a Muslim boy. With the message saying ‘Rang Laaye Sang’ (Colours bring us together), the ad shows the girl choosing to get stained in Holi colours in order to protect her Muslim friend. She then drops him safely till the mosque so he can offer Namaz and then tells him that later he has to play Holi. The ad ends with Surf Excel’s classic tagline, ‘agar kuch accha karne me daag lag jaye, to daag acche hain’ (Stains that come as a part of a good deed are good stains).
Now, the ad is winning hearts of few as definitely it is one of the cutest ads ever but people who find it cute are actually very few in numbers. The ad instantly faced criticism for the concept for being humiliating, Hindu-phobic and promoting love jihad. Some even accused that Surf Excel is intentionally trying to showcase Namaz being more important than Holi. One such twitter user also suggested that if the genders were reversed and the girl was a Muslim then even Muslims wouldn’t have taken it easily.
However, the advertisement had managed to gather around 8,583,942 views and 26k thumbs-up on YouTube.
It’s not the first time when ads have created controversies. Recently, Hindustan Unilever, the company behind products like Surf Excel has also come under flak recently, when they posted a video on their Twitter page.
Set against the backdrop of the crowded Kumbh Mela, the video shows a young man walking out on his father in the middle of a crowd of people at the gathering. Later, he realises his fault after a while and rushes back, finds his ‘Bauji’ who had calmly ordered two cups of chai, apparently sure that his son would come back. The ad faced criticism for putting Hindu traditions and festivals in the wrong light and hurting Hindu sentiments.
While such ads are heavily criticised, there are few people who exactly got the message the company was trying to convey and appreciated it as well.
Clearly, we have both positive and negative elements in our society. The problem arises when few move towards extreme left, few towards extreme right and all of them move far, far away from humanity.