New Delhi: The government has requested that two controversial advertisement for a body spray brand be removed from Twitter and YouTube after they triggered a significant backlash for encouraging โrape culture.โ The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), which is part of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, judged the ad to be in โsevere breachโ of their code and against the public interest.
โThe video is detrimental to the portrayal of women in the interest of decency or morality,โ said the ministry
Responding to growing outrage over an advertisement by Layerโr Shot, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has stated that the ad is in โserious breachโ of their code and against public interest.
After several users tagged the ASCI on Twitter asking them to โtake it off the airโ, the self-regulatory organisation wrote, โThank you for tagging us. The ad is in serious breach of the ASCI Code and is against public interest. We have taken immediate action and notified the advertiser to suspend the ad, pending investigation.โ
The two advertisement for Layerโr Shotโs body spray have gotten a lot of flak online. A group of guys and a lady appear in both videos, the first in a room and the second in a grocery shop. Several viewers found the menโs joke about taking a โshotโ at the woman to be offensive and โdisgusting.โ
The advertisements are being broadcast on Sony Liv during the first Test match between England versus New Zealand.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.