Mumbai: Jewellery brand Tanishq has once again become the target of angry trolls on social media. This time, it has come under fire for its advertisement discouraging the use of firecrackers during Diwali.
Barely a month after the Tata-owned company was blasted for its ad on inter-faith relationships, #BoycottTanishq is trending again on Twitter.
The latest ad, featuring Alaya F, Nimrat Kaur, Neena Gupta and Sayani Gupta, shows the actors discussing how they would like to celebrate Diwali this year.
In the 49-second clip, Sayani says, “Definitely no firecrackers, and I don’t think anyone should light any firecrackers, but a lot of diyas, a lot of laughter hopefully and positivity.”
This was the only part that discouraged use of crackers this Diwali, The Indian Express reported. But twitterati took offence and accused Tanishq of hurting “religious sentiments”.
BJP MLA from Karnataka CT Ravi tweeted: “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. We will light lamps, distribute sweets and burst green crackers. Please join us. You will understand Ekatvam.”
Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri also took to Twitter to accuse the ad of ‘killing tradition and Hindu culture’. “This Diwali, let’s kill tradition, Hindu culture and promote consumerism. Because photoshopped secular models with fake smiles and VFX bodies loaded with regressive,” he wrote.
Another user @vikram193 wrote, “Shame on Tanishq. Please concentrate on jewellery not religion. Tell something about yours jewelry as well. I don’t think this Diwali anyone is going to buy Tanishq jewellery. I will suggest first change yours ad manager who are creating such a ads.#boycotttanishq.”
Tanishq has reportedly taken down the ad from Twitter. The company is yet to make an official statement, Business Line noted.
