“Does showing so much skin justify ‘Intimate jewellery’?” asked a social media user.
“No! This is no lingerie or Condom Ad. This is Sabyasachi Mangalsutra Ad. Ultra Woke #Sabyasachi is so creatively bankrupt that he had to use semi-naked models for a Mangalsutra ad,” wrote another user.,
The designer was also accused of hurting sentiment and denigrating the mangalsutra.
Here are some more comments:
“Is this mangalsutra ad or b grade ad ? How dare you take Hindu sentiments and beliefs into granted . You are doing cheap gimmicks in the name of freedom of expression and creativity,” commented a netizen.
“Really sabyasachi?? What’s wrong with u these days, Who sell Mangalsutra like this. If u have guts sell burkha, tabij in this manners?? Stop Hindu discremation #Sabyasachi (sic),” another user tweeted.
“This is shameful Act @sabya_mukherjee You are selling the Mangal sutra by promoting nudity & obscene content with a hashtag #intimatefinejewellerybysabyasachi This is intentional hurting of Hindu sentiments Delete this post ASAP,” added another user.
“What are you exactly advertising? No one will wear this jewellery now coz you have shown the world that if I wear that jewellery I must be some cheapo! please take care of your campaigns (sic),” demanded a user on Instagram.
“Foreigners adopting our rich & divine culture, tradition. What message your creative head trying to convey? A mangalsutra is a symbol of marriage n the wife is meant to wear it all her life indicating d love and commitment the husband and wife have towards each other,” another user wrote.
“This is embarrassing. When I saw the picture I thought it was about lingerie but it is disgusting that this is a mangalsutra ad. #Sabyasachi is playing with the sentiments of Indian women,” a tweet said.
Sabyasachi, who earlier stoked a controversy by collaborating with fast-fashion brand H&M, also received support from a section of the internet.
“#Sabyasachi , this designer guy has everyone’s attention now! Doesn’t matter if this ad is pretty deplorable,” wrote a netizen.
“So the latest target of the Hindutva hate brigade is designer #Sabyasachi & his eponymous #brand..! They have zeroed in on one in a series of ads for a new jewellery line & are apoplectic about it.. Because if it wasn’t for this ad, they’d have totally shopped #Sabyasachi…,” wrote another user.
The Kolkata-based designer is yet to make a statement on the controversy.
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