Jewellery brand Tanishq seems to be making a habit of it. Yet another of its ads has been taken down after Twitter backlash; a month earlier, it had pulled down an advertisement for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. The Diwali-centric advertisement featured actors Neena Gupta, Nimrat Kaur, Sayani Gupta and Alaya F. The advice mouthed by the actors was well-meaning but social media took umbrage at a suggestion to avoid firecrackers during Diwali.
"I don't think anybody should light any firecrackers, but lot of diyas," says Sayani Gupta. The innocuous remark invited scorn. "Why should anyone advise Hindus how to celebrate our festivals? Companies must focus on selling their products, not lecture us to refrain from bursting crackers," BJP National General Secretary C T Ravi tweeted.
Once bitten twice shy, the company took off the 50-second ad from Twitter and YouTube, though it continues to be on the company's Instagram page.
When contacted, it did not offer any comments on the matter. But Sayani decided to make her feelings known. "Just witnessing how a universal issue of Air Pollution (at a terrible level right now, especially in Delhi and NCR), gets politicised and bigoted in the name of religion!! Unbelievable!! What have they done to our country! This is what systemic hate does to people. #Astounded"
