New Delhi: An advertisement featuring Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan has been in the eye of a storm, forcing Zomato to issue an apology and withdraw it.
In the ad, Hrithik was seen ordering food from ‘Mahakal’ when he felt like having a ‘thali’, or food platter.
Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, which recently attacked Amazon for selling a Radha-Krishna portrait which was described as ‘obscene, wasted no time in calling for a boycott of Zomato.
“In an ad, @iHrithik says ‘Thaali khane ka man tha, Mahakal se mangaa liya’…Mahakal is no servant who delivers food to those who demand it, He is a God who’s worshipped. Could @zomato insult a God of another religion with the same courage?” tweeted the religious organization.
#BoycottZomato started trending on Twitter after priests of Ujjain’s Shree Mahakaleshwar Temple demanded an immediate withdrawal of the ‘offending’ advertisement.
According to the priests, prasad is distributed among devotees on a plate (thali) free of cost and is not something that can be ordered online through a food delivery app.
They approached Ujjain district collector Ashish Singh to initiate action against Zomato.
Even Singh stated that the advertisement was “misleading”.
Taken aback, Zomato had to issue a clarification before any serious damage was done to the restaurant aggregator and food delivery company.
The Gurgaon-based company stated that the ad in question “referenced ‘thalis’ at Mahakal Restaurant, and not the revered Shree Mahakaleshwar Temple,” and was part of its pan-India campaign in which top local restaurants in every city and their top dishes based on popularity were identified.
Zomatopointed out that Mahakal Restaurant is one of its high-order restaurant partners in Ujjain and ‘thali’ is a recommended item on its menu.
“We deeply respect the sentiments of the people of Ujjain, and the ad in question is no longer running. We offer our sincerest apologies, for the intent here was never to hurt anyone’s beliefs and sentiments,” the statement read.
Mahakaleshwar or Mahakal temple of Shiva in Ujjain is one of 12 ‘Jyotirlingas’ in the country.
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