This is going to be painful. So, strap in, y’all. We’re going to be dealing with some nuclear-grade bullshit. Also, I know this is old news by now (because of how much time I've waited) but humor an idiot, won't you?
TL;DR: Liberal idiot gets mad at hollow ad campaign. In other news, fire is hot.
Kidding aside, we have to criticise companies for their virtue signalling but at the same time, we have to be cognizant that they’re some of the support we have as left-leaning people. Colorism is a big problem, stemming from other “isms” like classism, casteism, and racism but not limited to just them. Religion needs to calm the fuck down and the Male Gaze can go to hell. The post mostly looks at the Karwa Chauth ad with the lenses mentioned above. >!And yes, this TLDR is at the top so that you can pretend to have read the whole thing. Your secret is safe with me. !<
As a primer, I would highly recommend watching Hbomberguy’s video on Woke Brands that you can see here. Some of the main ideas I want to talk about stem from this video, and for the lovely people who can't watch it for one reason or another, don’t worry, I gotchu. I’ll go over the main thesis and talking points of the video in a little while. Let’s just get things set up here, shall we?
Two things happened in succession.
- Fabindia, clothing retailer, tweeted about a new collection for Diwali, naming it Jashn-e-Riwaaz.
- Dabur released a video ad for their product called Fem Creme Bleach, which featured a lesbian couple celebrating the Hindu festival of Karwa Chauth.
Both ads received significant backlash from conservative reactionaries and right-wing politicians. Both ads were taken down. Both companies issued apologies.
Now, before we proceed, let’s clear up some of the possible issues I foresee with this post:
I’m an unapologetic leftie fuck, anti-marriage, kinda on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, anti-theistic on principle, and I have little to no connection to Indian culture. And so I don’t know the intricacies of how online discourse happens here. I have no horse in this race. I’d say I couldn’t care less but considering I’m writing about this shit at 3 AM, it must have bothered me enough to care that much. And yes, that post a few days ago here, on r/librandu about Fabindia was me. …Anywa
... keep reading on reddit ➡So recently Dabur, an Indian brand, had made an ad showing a lesbian couple celebrating Karwachauth and looking at eachother through a sieve. Many hindus lashed out at Dabur saying it's disrespectful to Hinduism and it's festivals. Do you think it really was disrespectful?
