A few days ago Indian jewelry brand Kalyan Jewellers published an advertisement featuring brand ambassador Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
In the ad Aishwarya, draped with opulent jewels and dressed like royalty, can be seen reclining in front of a small child clearly outfitted as a serf or slave.
Aishwarya is backlash by group activists who critically opposed her for endorsing an unethical yet a raciest ad. An open letter has been sent to Aishwarya in which she is asked for such public retraction. The letter stated that the ad was not only glorifying child labor but was also openly racist.
The letter said:
“Further, the extremely fair colour of your skin (as projected in the advertisement) contrasted with the black skin of the slave-boy is obviously a deliberate “creative” juxtaposition by the advertising agency, and insidiously racist.”
Aishwarya responded to this challenge very quickly taking no charge of what is finally presented . Ash publicist told that the actress denied having any role in how the final image for the ad was going to be presented. Addressing the authors of the open letter, the publicist stated: “On the onset we would like to thank you on drawing our attention to the observation of the perception of the advertisement. Here is an attachment of the shot taken by somebody during the shoot. The final layout of the ad is entirely the prerogative of the creative team for a brand. However shall forward your article as a viewpoint that can be taken into consideration by the creative team of professional working on the brand visual communication.”
Original ad is presented with the changed ad for a support. The original ad shows that a child is nowhere to be seen. Clearly, the buck was passed to Kalyan Jewellers.
Facebook also issued a statement to Kalyan Jewellers to withdraw the ad. It said: “The creative was intended to present the royalty, timeless beauty and elegance. However, if we have inadvertently hurt the sentiments of any individual or organization, we deeply regret the same. We have started the process of withdrawing this creative from our campaign.”
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is facing a lot of criticism buy ethical and group activist upon her unethical-raciest appearance in a jewelry ad.
