Titan Group’s Tanishq was made to take down their advertisement featuring an interfaith married couple after incessant trolling on social media with #BoycottTanishq trending on Twitter on October 12.
The 45-second advertisement, released on 9 October, shows a Muslim family preparing a traditional Hindu baby shower for their pregnant Hindu daughter-in-law.
The ad shows a pregnant woman in a sari with a woman she calls her mother at a baby shower ceremony. Towards the end of the video, the young woman asks the older woman, apparently her mother-in-law: ‘But this ceremony is not held at your home…’. The mother-in-law, wearing a suit and her head covered with a dupatta, says: ‘Isn’t it a tradition for every home to keep daughters happy?’
Soon after the video was released, netizens alleged that the advertisement ‘promoted love jihad’.
The video is no longer available on the brand’s YouTube channel after netizens flooded the comment section with hate-filled remarks.
.@TanishqJewelry : Why are you showing a Hindu ‘daughter in law’ to a muslim family and glorifying it?Why dont you show a Muslim daughter in law in your ads with a Hindu family?Look like you are promoting #LoveJihad & favouring a particular Faith only…#BoycottTanishq
— khemchand sharma #IStandWithFarmersBill (@SharmaKhemchand) October 12, 2020
‘#BoycottTanishq for Playing Jihadi Card for Brand Promotion (Sic),’ another tweet read.
Another social media user wrote: ‘This is hypocrisy from Tanishq!!! #BoycottTanishq’
However, amid all the outrage, many even backed the message of interfaith harmony promoted by the jewellery brand.
Thank you for making us notice the beautiful #tanishq ad dear trolls ! pic.twitter.com/Wev3VSaiCw
— shamina shafiq (@shaminaaaa) October 12, 2020
Those boycotting the Tanishq ad don’t like seeing daughter in law(s) happy around mother in law’s. You have seen too many soaps & too much prime times news.
— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) October 13, 2020
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor reacted to those who called for the advertisement’s boycott.
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
‘It’s really sad to watch what kind of country we are turning into. An ad uniting two religions has to be taken down in the country which used to be called secular since forever. Woman facepalming #tanishq,’ a post on Twitter read.
An advertisement focusing on inter faith marriage and religious harmony was excessively trolled. Netizens called out the brand for promoting love jihad. It all started with dislikes and eventually led to #BoycottTanishq trending on social media. Finally, the brand succumbed to the online trolling and withdrew their ad. This widespread hatred speaks volumes about how intolerant the society that we live in can be.
Also Read: #BoycottTanishq Trends For Advertisement On Hindu-Muslim Marriage
