Detergent brand Surf Excel advertisements never fails to move the hearts of viewers. But this time it faced a lot of criticism and remarks for picturing something which is not expected amid the aftermath situations between India and Pakistan.
The recent Surf Excel ad promotion #RangLaayeSang their latest ad video took heavy flak by viewers and Twitterati for the Hindu-Muslim harmony concept.
A minute-ad ruckus
The one-minute-long ad campaign features a young Hindu girl in a white T-Shirt wilfully get stained in hues of Holi colors to shield her young Muslim friend who supposed to go to the mosque to pray. The Surf Excel’s ad as usual ends with its vintage catchline, ‘daag acche hain’.
The video ends with a slogan or tagline saying, “Agar kuch achha karne mein daag lag jaaye toh daag achhe hain.” This means stains that come as part of a good deed are good stains.
Hindustan Unilever that owns Surf Excel, with this campaign, tried to promote religious harmony and bring people together with the punch of colors. The video is released on February 27 on YouTube and scored 8,667,825 views till date. However, the Surf excel ad faced an unexpected backlash from Twitteratis and suffered critical comments from users stating that the ad is Hindu Phobic and there is a need to #boycottSurfexcel hashtags swarmed in the social media platform.
#boycottSurfexcel Reactions
Many Twitter users criticized that the Surf Excel
A Twitter user wrote, “If so then Ask #SurfExcel to make one such Ad on Muharram when #Raziya will take #Rahul to Mandir escaping from Blood sheds and Slaughter everywhere.
Some hated the Surf Excel ad, while some tweeted not to twist the campaign in a wrong way.
Whizsky Voice
The Surf Excel’s campaign which we think was conceptualized with good intentions is being rubbed the wrong way facing the trolls and backlashes from right-wing supporters. It was brave of them to choose this idea of portraying Hindu-Muslim harmony midst the political environment around our country. The concept of protecting a Muslim piqued many viewers making it picture as Hindu Phobic despite looking at the positive side of colors bringing togetherness among people
Need to wait and see what’s the Surf Excel’s conviction going to be. Let us know in comments what do you think about the campaign
