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Journalism of Courage
Traditionally, Holi has been an obvious opportunity for detergent companies to advertise their products. But a latest Surf Excel ad has been portrayed in different colours despite its seemingly positive take on communal harmony. The online backlash from some sections has been so severe that #BoycottSurfExcel has been trending for a few days now.
Surf Excel’s one-minute ad titled ‘Rang Laaye Sang’ (colours bring us together) features two kids, a little Hindu girl and a Muslim boy, enjoying Holi with other kids. The ad shows the girl choosing to get stained with colours to protect her Muslim friend who has to go to a nearby mosque to offer namaaz. The ad ends with the boy entering the mosque, in a pristine white kurta-pyjama, and promising the girl he’ll join in the celebrations soon after.
“A beautiful story of how the colours of Holi can truly be the colours of oneness – melting differences & bringing people together,” the brand wrote while releasing the ad. Initially, the ad with their motto ‘daag achhe hai’ (stains are good), garnered a lot of attention online and and was showered with love and praise for promoting India’s unity in diversity.
But the negative comments did not take long. Some argued that the ad was promoting “love jihad” and dubbed it controversial saying it promotes “Hindu phobia”. Others questioned the logic of the ad as namaaz can be offered at home too. Some others were irked by Holi colours being compared to ‘daag’. A few even asked Hindustan Unilever, the company which owns Surf Excel, if they would reverse the gender in the ad and show it differently.
https://twitter.com/Payal_Rohatgi/status/1104428268441104384
However, many online came forward to laud the brand for its advertisement and said Holi has always been a festival for all and the ad truly reflects what it means to be in India, slamming people who tried to promote hate online.
https://twitter.com/AsnSami/status/1105338121879674880
https://twitter.com/AarishNawaz/status/1105323707571097601
Hindustan Unilever had recently drawn flak online for their Kumbh Mela ad for Brook Bond Tea, triggering another call for boycott of the company’s products.
