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Surf Excel Holi ad controversy: Keeping trolls away, the HUL way

The largest advertiser stumbled onto a social media minefield over its recent campaigns.

(From left) HUL was trolled for its Surf Excel ad where a young girl helps a Muslim boy avoid being splashed with colour on Holi and the Brooke Bond ad where a son abandons his father at the Kumbh Mela before having a change of heart and going back t
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(From left) HUL was trolled for its Surf Excel ad where a young girl helps a Muslim boy avoid being splashed with colour on Holi and the Brooke Bond ad where a son abandons his father at the Kumbh Mela before having a change of heart and going back t

Viveat Susan Pinto Mumbai
A little girl pedals her way down the road, calling out to her friends to play Holi. Water balloons fly thick and fast and she's soaked in colour. The kids however soon run out of stock. It is the moment she's been waiting for. She gives the green signal to a boy standing around the corner. He hops on to her bicycle as they make their way to the nearest mosque. There's not a stain on his clothes. He’s happy and so is she.

Hindustan Unilever's latest commercial for detergent brand Surf Excel has evoked sharp reactions on social media—some