Dabur Withdraws Same-Sex Karwa Chauth Ad, Issues Apology For Hurting Religious Sentiments

Dabur Fem's ad of its gold crème bleach released on the occasion of Karva Chauth promotes same sex relationship by showing two women fasting for each other. The tagline says 'glow with pride.'

Following the controversy over its latest ad in the last twenty-four hours, consumer goods brand Dabur has issued on apology on its twitter handle for the lesbian Karva Chauth ad released by the company for one of its products.  As soon as the ad was launched, fury and outrage gripped various social media users who went on to trend #BOYCOTTFEM. 

The ad shows two women observing the Karva Chauth fast but for one another, thereby promoting same-sex relationship. While the brand's leap of faith was appreciated by some for being progressive and all-inclusive, it did not go down well the throats of many netizens. A large number of outraged people accused the brand of promoting the incorporation of unsolicited norms in their culture and hurting their religious sentiments. Some even criticised the ad for emphasising on the importance of having a fair skintone.

The women can be seen happily prepping up for the occasion in which one applies the gold creme bleach on the other's face for that moon-like glow. They are then joined by a third woman of the older generation who gives them both sarees to wear for the celebration. The ad's climax reveals that the two women are same-sex couple when they look through the sieve at each other's face.

Dabur's post on its twitter handle reads, "Fem's Karwachauth campaign has been withdrawn from all social media handles and we unconditionally apologise for unintentionally hurting people’s sentiments."

Lately, brands have been launching ads with the intention to harbor unity and acceptance in the society. But on the contrary, the opposite seems to be happening as netizens create furor over these ads for hurting their religious sentiments in the process. 

It is not been even a week when the Indian clothing brand, FabIndia was being trolled and boycotted for launching its Diwali collection under the name 'Jashn-e-Riwaz' and hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus by giving an Urdu name to one of their major festivals. The tyre brand CEAT also had to face major backlash because of its ad that features Aamir Khan where he advises people not to burn crackers on roads as they cause harm to vehicles.