Mumbai: More people have seen the now-withdrawn Tanishq ad as the controversy also created a “movement” in which many are buying Tanishq products to take a stand, the creator of the ad campaign said Tuesday.
The ad showed realities, and after the controversy, a silent majority of people have started speaking out against a vocal minority, according to Amit Akali, managing partner and creative director of ‘What’s Your Problem,’ the agency behind the ad campaign. .
In an interview with PTI, he also stated that no one would have expected the reaction because “community harmony is the center of our fabric.”
However, in withdrawing the ad, he called Tanishq a “brave” company that considered the safety of employees in the face of controversy.
The $ 120 billion Tata Group decided to withdraw Tanishq’s 55-second ad, which shows a Muslim mother-in-law caring for her pregnant Hindu daughter-in-law, in the wake of the online furor and discontent among certain groups over alleged communal tones.
“People come out and tell us that we will not allow this movie to be removed, that they share it on their own even though it has been removed. Or there is a movement where people buy Tanishq and show us the invoices,” Akali he told PTI.
Despite the ad being removed, many people supported the campaign and made their dislike of online trolls known.
“We are at that stage where the majority are talking and that is where the love for Tanishq began to come in. I think this is a normal phenomenon in any country,” he said, noting that this is contrary to the behavioral phenomenon called “spiral of silence”.
“Spiral of silence refers to the fact that a large part of the majority remains silent because it is a way of life for them but there is a vocal minority that continues to speak,” he said.
Making it clear that the intention behind the campaign was only to showcase cultural realities that fit well with a brand promise, and not political at all, Akali said that Tanishq’s broader ‘Ekatvam’ or unity campaign will continue.
Stating that society sided with Tanishq because the message resonated with him, he said: “More people have seen the message than if it had not been removed. It was a simple film showing how a pregnant daughter-in-law is cared for in our society. where multiple communities thrive. “
He said the announcement that sparked the controversy was part of a larger campaign called ‘Ekatvam’, in which the jewelry brand has partnered with 1,000 artisans from 15 Indian cultures to launch a collection.
On the withdrawal of the announcement by the Tata Group company, Akali endorsed Tanishq and called the client a “brave” company that took the position of employee safety in the face of the controversy.
“He would have made exactly the same decision if he had been in the customer’s shoes. Nothing is more important than the safety of an employee. He is a courageous customer and the customer took a stand for the safety of his employees,” he said. He said.
However, he refused to give details about the difficulties encountered since the controversy broke out.
“The last week since the controversy seems like more than seven days, but the love received from all over the world is beautiful, fantastic and overwhelming,” Akali said.
He said an online group has been created where more than 200 people have made up their own interfaith marriage stories and attempts are being made to document these experiences in a book as well.
“We were very clear that we wanted to take a position, rather than just communicating about a product or just talking about the holiday season. The position we took was Ekatvam or unity,” he said, noting that there was nothing bold about taking the position. despite events such as the anti-CAA protests and the general communal attitude in the country.
“We did not set out to do bold things, we set out to do the right things, the things that happen around us and this is a normal reality. A mother-in-law caring for a daughter-in-law is reality,” she said. Akali said and claimed that he himself is a Hindu-Sikh married to a Parsi.
When asked if the announcement can be called a tipping point where the silent majority has started talking, Akali said she doesn’t want that credit, adding that the society has always been outspoken.
However, he exudes confidence that the story will see the campaign as a “watershed moment” from a marketing perspective where a brand spoke what it wanted.
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