Dabur broke free of decades of traditional marketing by showing a lesbian couple celebrating Karwa Chauth in an ad . The mood of sexual liberalization was shortlived as protests from the Hindu rightwing forced Dabur to shut down the ad just days after it was released.
Reacting to the withdrawal of the innocuous ad writer-thinker-poet Javed Akhtar says, “It is sad but not surprising . Our society is being pulled and pushed towards extremely regressive, obsolete divisive and patriarchal values. This is often done illegally and unconstitutionally and powers that be condone it mostly by their “ loud silence” but if the need be with their words . I feel sorry for Dabur people .”
Screenwriter Apurva Asrani feels the ad deserved to be taken down. “It’s a highly regressive ad. High time we stop supporting these awful fairness cream campaigns. And just because you used an LGBTQ couple, it doesn’t absolve you. I don’t know why exactly they pulled out the ad. They got more backlash from the LGBT community than from some offended MP.”
Actor Anshuman Jha feels the advertisement world cannot be exempted from the rules of decorum. “I think there is a responsibility that both creators and audiences have. Every ritual, as per our Vedas, have their roots in energy. Sacrificing and sending positive vibrations/energy to your loved ones is the base of any fasting tradition. Eg. in the ‘Shraadha’ period you sacrifice by fasting in order to send positive vibrations to your ancestors. So the root of our teachings should not be lost while making a point or championing an issue.”
Actress-activist Diya Mirza feels Dabur should have stood their ground. “What is the point of your bravado if you cannot stand by your conviction.”
Taapsee Pannu agrees with Diya. “Why make such pathbreaking , unconventional ads when you can’t stand by it?One should stand by the values and thought one believes in. Misunderstandings can be corrected.But withdrawal of the ad that showed that they were apologetic for their thought process.”
