Tanishq ‘Ekatvam’ ad pulled after outrage

The jewellery brand's new advertisement called 'Confluence' received flak for featuring an interfaith baby shower

Prominent jewellery brand Tanishq’s jewellery lines and their ads have been close to real lives and have been widely accepted. But this time there is a slight change to that. The jewellery brand’s latest ad called ‘Confluence’, promoting their new jewellery line ‘Ekatvam’ (Hindi word for unity) was pulled after it received a backlash.

So, what was the ad about? The ad shows a pregnant woman in a white sari escorted by a woman who she addresses as “Ma (mother)”, to a baby shower ceremony. At the end of the video, the young woman asks the mother-in-law, wearing a salwar suit with her head covered with dupatta: “But this ceremony is not held at your home…”. The mother-in-law then replies: “Isn’t it a tradition for every home to keep daughters happy?”

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The description for the 43-second ad film posted to YouTube read: “She is married into a family that loves her like their own child. Only for her, they go out of their way to celebrate an occasion that they usually don’t. A beautiful confluence of two different religions, traditions and cultures.”

However, the video was pulled from YouTube and Tanishq’s several social media pages after a barrage of tweets against the ad.

Critics accused the advertisement of promoting “Love Jihad”. A section of social media users led calls to boycott the brand, taking it to the top of Twitter trends.

While on the other side, many consider the ad film to be a positive approach for the unison of the two communities. MP Shashi Tharoor was among the many who reacted to the call for the ad’s boycott. He said: “Hindutva bigots have called for a boycott 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 – India?” Tharoor further wrote.

However, Tanishq has not yet responded on the matter.

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