Tanishq Advertisement Controversy

Yet another example of deeply rooted communal hatred and bullying came to the fore last week when Tanishq (a division of Titan from the Tata group) was forced to remove a beautiful advertisement on communal harmony. The ad under the Ekatvam series celebrating interfaith ties through the depiction of godbharai (baby shower) celebrations showing a Hindu daughter-in-law of in a Muslim household. It is an example of how a Muslim family tries to make its Hindu daughter-in-law happy.

This ad posted on YouTube caused an instant uproar on social media, with racists blaming Tanishq for promoting ‘love jihad’ and threatening to boycott the brand. The trolling with #BoycottTanishq hashtag was so severe, and threats so dangerous, on Twitter, within a day Tanishq pulled out the ad. 

Sadly, Titan’s buckling down under threats and removing this ad didn’t help much. From its showroom in Gandhidham, Gujarat, there were reports of the manager being humiliated, and compelled by some people to give an apology, which was then posted on the door.

The ad was so tastefully made that only a bigot would find it offensive. The protests were not so much about the content of the advertisement as about its central theme: a Muslim man married to a Hindu woman. The logic of the trolls objecting to the ad was; why is a Hindu girl marrying a Muslim boy? Why not vice versa? 

In earlier years too, the depiction of Hindu-Muslim interfaith relations was attempted by Brooke Bond Red Label Tea and Surf Excel. The Brooke Bond Tea ad shows a young Muslim woman offering tea to a Hindu senior couple and the Surf ad showed a Hindu girl helping a Muslim boy reach the mosque safely shielding him from coloured water ballons during Holi. 

While they received some criticism, the social media activity on Twitter with vicious tweets and open threats and the subsequent withdrawal of the Tanishq advertisement by TATAs with an apology is unparalleled. The Tanishq ad is different from the other two television advertisements in terms of who the protagonists were and what they were doing.

A pregnant Hindu daughter-in-law, a Muslim husband, and a loving Muslim mother-in-law who re-affirms the love for a daughter-in-law is a connecting bond between Hindu and Muslim cultures. This narrative does not fit into the mainstream description of conflicting differences and everlasting suspicions of motives.

Further, the pregnant Hindu woman evokes deep-seated anxiety among the Hindutva ideologues of a steady taking over of Hindu women through love and marriage to topple the majority community through ‘demographic warfare’. This is the basis of the theory embedded in the term ‘love jihad’. Muslim male sexuality and effectiveness, Hindu women’s gullibility, and Muslim women’s fertility, fuels this theory further.

Those defending the ad were sad or angry that the Tata group had succumbed to the hate campaign.  Many tweets urged Ratan Tata’s to stay strong and not get bullied by the trolls. The point made by those supporting this ad was that its promoters should not buckle down because Indians by and large are not communal and would not be influenced by the twisted criticism of the sentiment, behind this ad.

The growing intolerance in this country causes serious concern. This isn’t the first ad that has seen threats and boycott calls. Indian movies and many more, have faced violence for portrayal that do not suit a particular ideology. 

Also, it was painful to see one of India’s most respected industrial houses bowing to threats like these. The official explanation given: It was doing so in view of the “hurt sentiments”, and to ensure the “well being” of its employees and partners.