Tanishq has found itself in the centre of a massive social media storm for its latest advertisement, which many have called out for furthering subtle propaganda. The jewellery brand, which is a division of the Titan Company, is promoted by Tata Group in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation. The ad took to showing the bride’s in-laws and other relatives being extremely large-hearted who almost intuitively care for her cultural emotions, even if the realities on the ground are in stark contestation of the same.
On social media, the jewellery brand is facing tremendous flak for having insinuated subtly that as a result of inter-faith marriages, Hindu women have a rosy time at their new homes. It was just not the right time to glorify such a marriage at a time when social issues like Love Jihad are on the rise.
The advertisement, called ‘Ekatvam’, shows a pregnant woman (Hindu) in a sari escorted by a woman she calls “Ma (mother)”, who is a Muslim, to a baby shower ceremony. At the end of the video, the young woman asks her mother-in-law, “But this ceremony is not held at your home…”. The mother-in-law, wearing a suit and her head covered with a dupatta, secularly replies: “Isn’t it a tradition for every home to keep daughters happy?Interestingly enough, the said advertisement was released two days after news of an 18-year old Hindu boy getting killed in Delhi for having an alleged affair with a Muslim girl.
Social media was unsparing in its thrashing of Tanishq for its imaginative portrayal of a la-la-land that unfortunately does not exist. Many accused Tanishq of promoting love-jihad too.
Dear @TanishqJewelry
I was admirer of your jewelry designs but not any more@hmoindia looks like funding started for tanishq or their head is some jihadi mentality
this is what u project in ad but below picture is reality @TataCompanies #BoycottTanishq #BoycottTanishqJewelry pic.twitter.com/V7U7AXwmpz— VINITA (@vinitasingh28) October 12, 2020
Tanishq ad is a work of fiction. Reality is quite different. Here is a glimpse into reality which I came across in just one edition of one newspaper today. #LoveJihad pic.twitter.com/gJMqtYHrTL
— Vikas Saraswat (@VikasSaraswat) October 12, 2020
https://twitter.com/indiantweeter/status/1315724146966364160?s=20
If #tanishq reversed the religions in It's ad, their show rooms will burnt in few hours itself so they will just Target Hindus only. https://t.co/ZhQKlPmfbC
— Khemchand Sharma(Modi Ka Parivar) #RadheRadhe (@SharmaKhemchand) October 13, 2020
https://twitter.com/saffron_kanya/status/1315879941028737024?s=20
Following a tremendous backlash, Tanishq is now said to have taken down the controversial ad from YouTube and its social media handles, even as it has offered no explanation for the same. With Tanishq taking down an ad, the cause of Hindu unity has been furthered, and a message has been sent across that nobody in India can take to peddling soft propaganda which is inherently anti-Hindu. Of course, Tanishq did not dare show a Muslim woman as a bride in the house of Hindus as that would have invited a Charlie Hebdo style physical backlash.
Only last year, TMC MP from Basirhat, Nusrat Jahan had faced the wrath of Islamic clergy, who took to issuing fatwas against her for her marrying a non-Muslim while saying that Muslim women must not marry non-Muslims. Further, she was also targeted for applying sindoor and wearing a mangalsutra. Many have cited innumerable such instances to counter Tanishq’s fictitious imagination and portrayal of a supposed cultural camaraderie which exists between people as a consequence of inter-faith marriage.