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Journalism of Courage
A video showing two Indian men checking out beer cans — from Russian brand Rewort — with the image of Mahatma Gandhi and his signature printed on them, has gone viral.
“Hum currency pe leke ghoom rahe hain (We are carrying him around on our currency),” said one of the men while holding the beer cans.
Indians on the Internet are not having it. Some pointed out the irony of the situation given Gandhi famously promoted abstinence from alcohol his entire life.
Watch the video:
The clip, shared by Jist News on their Instagram page, has sparked a flood of reactions ranging from frustration to light-hearted jokes.
One user wrote, “India should report it these is not right to used popular figures for there own advertisement,” while another user used a pun, “That such an un-beer-able insult!”
A third user referred to a song from the Bollywood movie Dangal. He wrote, “Bapu sehat ke liye tu toh haanikarak hai (Bapu, you’re injurious to health.)”
A fourth user commented, “Yes, let’s all get offended real soon. Let’s cancel Russia and Britain.”
Over the years, there have been several controversies involving Gandhi’s image being linked to alcohol brands. In 2019, an Israeli company drew criticism and had to apologise to the Indian government after featuring Gandhi on its liquor bottles. That same year, a Czech brewery found itself in hot water for naming one of its beers “Mahatma India Pale Ale”. They rebranded the drink after protests from an Indian NGO. About a decade ago, a company in the United States of America also landed in trouble for putting Gandhi’s face on its beer cans and bottles. The backlash led to an apology after a petition was filed in a Hyderabad court.
