At a time when two business houses, Bajaj and Parle, decided to cut out advertisements to channels that spread lies and hate, one of the most trusted brands in the country succumbed to social media pressures
This Tanishq ad was pulled out by the company after being mercilessly trolled
There is something about the TATA brand which strikes a chord with every Indian. From tea to steel, from a car to a truck, from spices to luxurious hotels and from spectacles and sunglasses to watches and jewellery, they touch our lives in more ways than one.
TATA is a robust brand which enjoys tremendous goodwill and trust. It is also very conscious of the responsibilities that come with such faith. The brand has been a trendsetter in echoing the sentiments that need a voice, be it of communal harmony, the LGBT community, or widow remarriage. It engages and communicates with the society through advertisements designed for its product.
Ekatvam means oneness
That Tanishq pulled out an add for its jewellery brand released last week has alarmed many. Fearing social media backlash as #BoycottTanishq began to trend and get traction, the brand buckled.
Unilever has also used the social harmony theme for its detergent brand.
The ad is about a baby shower of a Hindu daughter-in-law in a Muslim family. The irony is that the jewellery series being promoted is titled Ekatvam which means oneness. Obviously, there could not have been a better theme to promote this. But Tanishq got mercilessly trolled and was accused of promoting love jihad.
First, there is a need to address those who are trolling the brand. The ad is not about propagating inter-faith marriages. It is about acceptance of an inter-religion bride. Hindu Muslim wedding in India is not a recent phenomenon. It has been happening since centuries and even among the royalty and nobility, if one was to read the rich yet chequered history of India. And they will continue to happen come what may. Love jihad, a term coined by the right-wing activists means conversion of Hindu girls in the guise of love marriages. But in the ad the Muslim family is going all out to celebrate a Hindu ritual. All that a visual like this can spread is warmth and smiles.
Fearing backlash
Advertisements are designed to reach out to a large segment. Responsible brands also use it as a vehicle to spread a socially relevant message to strike a chord. It is not the first time that this theme of inter-faith relationship has been used in an ad. What is a first is vicious trolls that have managed to chase it out. This is a wrong and dangerous bellwether. The ad is being accused of doing exactly the opposite of what it had been designed to do-that to spread communal harmony.
A son trying to abandon his aged father in a Kumbh Mela was a theme used by Brooke Bond. It faced criticism for the negative connotations.
Even more frightening is the fact that Tanishq gave up so quickly. It speaks about the fear that pervades even in the strongest and highest echelons of social and commercial corridors. When a brand like Tanishq fears trolls, then it speaks of the power of the social media scums, and underlines the brand's inability to handle them. Obviously Tanishq fears a backlash and even hooliganism and possible damage to its stores, as these calls by perverts have a way of escalating.
The decision of pulling down the ad perhaps also stems from the fact that these self-styled ‘evangelists’ and protectors of Hindu religion are gradually winning ground. The last few months have seen the extent of harm such negative trolls can cause. It’s hard to measure the kind of support base these right wing activists have. In a week from the release of the ad, there had been 17,000 tweets asking for a boycott of the brand. The ad video got more dislikes than likes on YouTube.
Having said so, I also feel that TATA should have waited and watched for some more time. The client loyalty that they enjoy and the groundswell of support for them would have beaten the trolls to pulp. After all, desh Tata Ka Namak Khata Hai.
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