Tanishq's oneness ad bares divide after firm succumbs to pressure

There are lessons in the controversy; brand should have held its ground: Analysts

Tanishq, the jewellery brand of the Tata-owned Titan Company, on Tuesday withdrew an advertisement from its YouTube channel after a furious backlash on social media. The video, 43 seconds long, showed a Muslim family organising a baby shower for their daughter-in-law, presumably Hindu. The brand captioned it: “She is married into a family that loves her like their own child. Only for her, they go out of their way to celebrate an occasion that they usually don’t. A beautiful confluence of two different religions, traditions and cultures.” The ad was originally part of Tanishq’s “Ekatvam”, or “oneness”, collection.
 
This valiant attempt at promoting interfaith harmony boomeranged badly, with #BoycottTanishq trending for large parts of the day on Twitter. Amid heavy trolling was the claim that the ad promoted “love jihad”, the disparaging phrase that radical right-wing groups have often used to describe inter-religious marriages in India.
 
A statement from the official Tanishq spokesperson read: “The idea behind the Ekatvam campaign is to celebrate the coming together of people from different walks of life, local communities and families during these challenging times and celebrate the beauty of oneness. This film has stimulated divergent and severe reactions, contrary to its very objective. We are deeply saddened with the inadvertent stirring of emotions and withdraw this film keeping in mind the hurt sentiments and well-being of our employees, partners and store staff.”
 
Popular celebrities came out in support of the concept behind the ad and lauded the message it sought to showcase, but chastised Tata for cowering in the face of “bigotry” and “intolerance”. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted, “So Hindutva bigots have called for a boycott of @TanishqJewelry… If Hindu-Muslim “ekatvam” irks them so much, why don’t they boycott the longest surviving symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity in the world — India?”
 
Brand experts express a similar sentiment, suggesting that Tanishq should have held firm. “I’m disappointed that a company the size of Tata has capitulated in front of a few lumpen elements in society,” says Samit Sinha, founder and managing partner at Alchemist Brand Consulting. “If a company as formidable as this succumbs to pressure, what example does it set for the smaller and more vulnerable ones?”

Even as the ad has been praised for its bold and sensitive portrayal of the subject, people within the industry are puzzled that Tanishq, having released the video after ostensibly studying the current climate on social media, chose to pull it so hastily. Says Comniscient Group CEO N Chandramouli: “Once a brand takes a stance (as Tanishq clearly did in this case), you must be ready to hold on to it long-term. If you don’t, not only do you show yourself in poor light, but you also set other brands on the same path.”
 
Sinha wonders much the same, saying that the ad wasn’t presumably released on a whim, having had gone through a series of internal checks. “Some people might have been upset by it. But by withdrawing it, you’ve upset the rest as well. At this moment, you’ve pleased nobody”.
 
The dismay is all the more profound in Tanishq’s case because Tata has always taken immense pride in being a company raised on great values.
 
Some others reckon that things would have turned out differently had the ad been released on television instead of YouTube. In the politically charged environment of social media, everything acquires a political hue, meaning that brands, which promote their products digitally, normally tread caution. Since the users online are “early adopters” of their offerings, they are careful not to antagonise them. Anything on television, on the other hand, resonates more with the majority, meaning that the ad would have been accepted more easily. Sinha feels that much of this has to do with politics, and might not be an accurate representation of how most Indians think.
 
Brand guru Harish Bijoor calls Tanishq’s decision a “pragmatic” one, particularly when seen in the context of the upcoming festive season. He says that the brand has chosen a practical approach over an idealistic one because it understands that negative imaging can result in negative sales. The brand’s short-term fortunes, he says, will remain unaffected. “All Tata brands are strong entities, and they have a great relationship with customers. There is likely to be no impact at all.”
 
Industry insiders say there are lessons in this controversy: One, brands may be required to carry out better diligence internally; and two, if they wish to take up a cause, they must be prepared to face flak, simply because it’s impossible to please everyone involved.