<p>An advertisement by Red Label on Ganesh Chaturthi has created a controversy for allegedly hurting the sentiments of Hindus.</p>.<p>The ad, which was released in 2018, had not created controversy then. It was passed over without much comment.</p>.<p>However, it was dug out during Ganesh Chaturthi by a section of Twitter that was offended by how ads about unity always show a Hindu as ignorant or biased and has to learn a moral. The hashtag ‘BoycottRedLabel’ has been trending for the past couple of words.</p>.<p>Metrolife caught up with Bengaluru adman Joseph Thomas to get an insider’s view of what the controversy is all about. Joseph works for the advertising company in the city.</p>.<p><strong>Are these social ads a new trend among brands? </strong></p>.<p>You cannot call companies trying to bring social issues into ads a trend because it’s been around for so long. One of the first brands to do it in India was Tata Tea with the ‘Jaago re’ campaign. This was in the 2000s.</p>.<p>What is new are the reactions to straightforward ‘unity in diversity’ ads, which would not have raised eyebrows three to five years ago.</p>.<p>The reaction is from a small, vitriolic crowd who is having a knee-jerk reaction. When this Ganesh Chaturthi ad released last year, there wasn’t much of an impact — positive or negative. A few people thought it was a good ad, that’s it.</p>.<p><strong>Can we more such ads?</strong></p>.<p>It’s a waning trend right now — what advertisement insiders call a brand purpose (how a brand hopes to change the world for the better). It’s been taken to its logical extreme.</p>.<p>For certain brands, it’s eyewash; for certain other brands, its very important. I don’t think the Red Label ad is part of a trend. When it’s a trend, it gets called out for that.</p>.<p><strong>How can you tell when it’s genuine?</strong></p>.<p>Take the company ‘Patagonia’ (an American clothing brand that makes products from recycled material). It was started by people who really care about the environment. So, when your complete philosophy is grounded in Corporate Social Responsibility, it reflects in your advertisement.</p>.<p>Where it gets a little murky is when it is tokenism, and there is a lot of tokenism in the ad industry. But the Red Label ad is not being called out for eyewash or tokenism. What it is being called out for bashing Hindus for some reason.</p>.<p>If you watch that ad, there is no connect to that at all. It is just a very straight forward ‘unity in diversity’ sort of ad.</p>.<p><strong>With things turning political at the drop of a hat, are ad-makers more careful now?</strong></p>.<p>Conservative companies will always remain conservative. It’s a great time for brands that are brave, like Zomato was a couple of months ago, when they said food has no religion. In their case, it was not coming from a ‘Hey, we believe this’ place, it was more reactionary. It was nonetheless a very brave stand knowing they would face immense political backlash. In most of these cases, there will be backlash, but if brands are willing to weather that storm and consistently stand for these things, it benefits the brand in the long run.</p>.<p>Brands are learning to navigate the system with respect to how to deal with instant feedback.</p>.<p><strong>Do you think Red Label would be affected by the call for boycott?</strong></p>.<p>It’s probably 300 people in a country of a billion who have seen this ad and are saying we should boycott the ad.</p>.<p>Also, it’s only on Twitter and does not have much on-ground implication.</p>.<p>Although I don’t work on Red Label, I am fairly certain it will have zero impact on their sales. If you break it down, remove all veneer of ethics from this, controversy is good for business. If done right, of course.</p>
<p>An advertisement by Red Label on Ganesh Chaturthi has created a controversy for allegedly hurting the sentiments of Hindus.</p>.<p>The ad, which was released in 2018, had not created controversy then. It was passed over without much comment.</p>.<p>However, it was dug out during Ganesh Chaturthi by a section of Twitter that was offended by how ads about unity always show a Hindu as ignorant or biased and has to learn a moral. The hashtag ‘BoycottRedLabel’ has been trending for the past couple of words.</p>.<p>Metrolife caught up with Bengaluru adman Joseph Thomas to get an insider’s view of what the controversy is all about. Joseph works for the advertising company in the city.</p>.<p><strong>Are these social ads a new trend among brands? </strong></p>.<p>You cannot call companies trying to bring social issues into ads a trend because it’s been around for so long. One of the first brands to do it in India was Tata Tea with the ‘Jaago re’ campaign. This was in the 2000s.</p>.<p>What is new are the reactions to straightforward ‘unity in diversity’ ads, which would not have raised eyebrows three to five years ago.</p>.<p>The reaction is from a small, vitriolic crowd who is having a knee-jerk reaction. When this Ganesh Chaturthi ad released last year, there wasn’t much of an impact — positive or negative. A few people thought it was a good ad, that’s it.</p>.<p><strong>Can we more such ads?</strong></p>.<p>It’s a waning trend right now — what advertisement insiders call a brand purpose (how a brand hopes to change the world for the better). It’s been taken to its logical extreme.</p>.<p>For certain brands, it’s eyewash; for certain other brands, its very important. I don’t think the Red Label ad is part of a trend. When it’s a trend, it gets called out for that.</p>.<p><strong>How can you tell when it’s genuine?</strong></p>.<p>Take the company ‘Patagonia’ (an American clothing brand that makes products from recycled material). It was started by people who really care about the environment. So, when your complete philosophy is grounded in Corporate Social Responsibility, it reflects in your advertisement.</p>.<p>Where it gets a little murky is when it is tokenism, and there is a lot of tokenism in the ad industry. But the Red Label ad is not being called out for eyewash or tokenism. What it is being called out for bashing Hindus for some reason.</p>.<p>If you watch that ad, there is no connect to that at all. It is just a very straight forward ‘unity in diversity’ sort of ad.</p>.<p><strong>With things turning political at the drop of a hat, are ad-makers more careful now?</strong></p>.<p>Conservative companies will always remain conservative. It’s a great time for brands that are brave, like Zomato was a couple of months ago, when they said food has no religion. In their case, it was not coming from a ‘Hey, we believe this’ place, it was more reactionary. It was nonetheless a very brave stand knowing they would face immense political backlash. In most of these cases, there will be backlash, but if brands are willing to weather that storm and consistently stand for these things, it benefits the brand in the long run.</p>.<p>Brands are learning to navigate the system with respect to how to deal with instant feedback.</p>.<p><strong>Do you think Red Label would be affected by the call for boycott?</strong></p>.<p>It’s probably 300 people in a country of a billion who have seen this ad and are saying we should boycott the ad.</p>.<p>Also, it’s only on Twitter and does not have much on-ground implication.</p>.<p>Although I don’t work on Red Label, I am fairly certain it will have zero impact on their sales. If you break it down, remove all veneer of ethics from this, controversy is good for business. If done right, of course.</p>
