Cricket viewers were recently seen talking against Policy Bazaar advertisements that equate money with a man's life which were played between the matches on Hotstar. While one talks about the ads playing with the emotions of the people, others ask Hotstar to show other ads that do not equate a man's life to money.
The ad in question shows a widowed woman talking to her dead husband and saying "School fees, house rent, there are so many responsibilities on my head. But you left without even taking term life insurance."
According to many viewers the ad should be taken down. In a video on X formerly known as Twitter, a user named Bala shared a video which asks the company to make better ads and Hotstar to show better ads as a viewer gets disappointed watching such disappointing ads in between the matches. According to him when one is celebrating a Virat Kohli's century and this ad comes to play it spoils the experience of watching matches.
In the video he says, "Woh bol rahi hai tumne financial planning nahin kiya tha…bhai uske marne ka bhi plan nahin tha yaar (She is saying you did not do any financial planning…but he also did not have any plans to die). And this ad is coming in the middle of the match. Virat Kohli is hitting a century, Bumrah is picking his fifth wicket, I am celebrating and then this ad comes in between, ruining the mood. The World Cup is round the corner. There are 50 matches in the World Cup, and every match has a scope of 100 ads, which is 5,000 ads in total. You might show this ad at least 1,000 times but I urge you not to. If you must, please show some Thums Up or Pepsi ads, not this."
Other twitter users also agreed to the view.
Many viewers also questioned if society views men as a means to only have a source of income? While others also questioned if the roles were reversed would feminists be ok with the advertisement?
Krish in a social media post said, "Husbands are only loved(so called) under a condition that they provide something(higher socioeconomic status)"
Arjun Singh-ke1oe while commenting on a YouTube video of the same ad said, "To all the men out there, There, that's exactly what is your value to your wife/gf/family & society. Doesn't matter how good a person you are, money is everything to them. Think before simping for a woman."
Another user commenting on the ad said, "I agree Disney Hotstar, Policy Bazaar, this advertisement is really very shameful, you are trying prey on people's insecurity, uncertainty and fear."
With so many people criticising the ad the company is yet to respond to the questions.
What is shocking is that this isn't the only company using such advertising tactics. According to a report by the Advertising Standards Council of India, gaming, personal care, classical education and healthcare ads have the highest number of problematic content and also violate advertising regulations. In the financial year 2023 alone the regulatory body received close to 8,950 complaints regarding violation of advertising rules.
