Bhima Jewellers has come up with an ice-breaking advertisement representing the journey of a trans women and the internet has fallen in love with it!

We have all seen jewellery ads with ladies flaunting the necklaces and bangles, giggling, happy and such an such. This ad is different. Bhima a portrays the journey of a transwomen from her childhood to adulthood. It’s pictured beautifully, just like a movie, with utmost care. The transformation of an unshaven young man to a confident woman with the support and care of her parents will surely tear you up.

The father gifting her with anklets to the final scene of her in the bridal attire is heartwarming. There is no anger, frustrations or melodrama shown, it normalizes something that the society is yet to take in wholeheartedly and the caption strikes, “Pure as Love”.

The best part of the advertisement? A transwoman, Meera Singhania is the protagonist, which just makes the representation better.

Well the ad is ‘pure gold’, check it out!

A recap of the most controversial Advertisements in 2017.

In 2017 some brands inadvertently landed themselves in controversies because of cheeky puns, risky taglines, and ‘insensitive’ use of gods and religion in ads. Let’s have a look at the ads that faced the heat in 2017.

Manforce Condoms

Manforce Condoms was forced to withdraw nearly 500 hoardings in Gujarat after protests broke out earlier this year. Sunny Leone’s condom ad for Manforce that tried to piggyback on the Navratri festivities faced severe outrage in Gujarat this year. The people of Gujarat took offense to the hoarding that portrays Sunny Leone seductively holding dandiya sticks.

Image source: pepnewz

 

Zomato

The recent outdoor ad campaign by online food ordering and delivery app Zomato faced a lot of controversies. Critics of the ad felt that one of the creatives of the campaign glorified desi expletives as it mentioned words like MC (mac n’ cheese) BC (butter chicken) in an attempt to connect with the brand’s core target audience – the millennials. Though the ad had to be pulled down, the advertisement got maximum exposure among the target audience.

 

Image source: thequint

Jawed Habib

Hairstylist Jawed Habib came under fire for hurting religious sentiments of the Hindus when he used the context of Durga Puja to promote his salon’s services. The ad suggested that even the gods visit Jawed Habib’s salon. The backlash was such that Jawed Habib had to apologize for the issue.

 

Image source: republicworld

Meat and Livestock Australia

Though not an Indian ad, reference to Hindu God, Ganesha didn’t go that well for Indians. The ad showed Ganesha, sitting at a table for a meal accompanied by Jesus, Moses, Zeus, Mohammed, Aphrodite, and even L Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology.The Indian High Commission in Canberra took notice and registered a complaint with the Australian government over the ad. The ad was banned as it was found to be “discriminatory to those of Hindu faith” by an independent review by the Australian Advertising Review Board.

Image source: abc.net

So these are the advertisements that faced controversies in 2017. Do let us know in the comments if we have missed out on any.

Exposure to condom advertisements can ruin our kids

A country with a population of 1.3 billion people called a ban on condom advertisements on Monday. The government  has strictly asked the Television channels to not telecast condom advertisements between 10 p.m to 6 a.m as it can evoke ‘unhealthy practices’ in children. It is pretty odd for a country like India, which is the second most populated country in the world to go for a ban like this.

The steamy ad featuring a former porn star led to a lot of objections from the conservative parties. There are so many other advertisements which needs to be banned instead, like advertisements that objectify women as sexual objects and degrade women in the society. Research says India will pass China to become the world’s most populous country in the next 10 years.  Our government has spent a lot of money on spreading awareness, but still the usage of condoms are very less in our country.

Soon after the ban was announced, Social Media slammed it with hilarious tweets and comments

1.

No condom ad on TV from 6am to 10pm because kids watch TV at that time

If your kid watches so much TV maybe you needed that condom in the 1st place

— Atul Khatri (@one_by_two) December 12, 2017

2.

 

If Condoms were not being treated as taboo for so many years, we would not have suffered the population blast issue. The way problems are being approached in India these days is really saddening.

— Rahul Raj (@bhak_sala) December 12, 2017

3.

 

No condom ads on Indian TV from 6am-10pm because why learn about birth control or protected sex when you can have Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, HPV, Herpes, HIV, an abortion or an unwanted baby?

— Priya Sometimes (@PriyaSometimes) December 12, 2017

It did not end there, this was another funny post that I came across.

 

#durex has their priorities right. Wait, is it okay to post this before 10pm? #madovermarketing #virushka #anushkasharma #viratkohli

A post shared by Mad Over Marketing (M.O.M) (@madovermarketing_mom) on Dec 12, 2017 at 8:38pm PST

On the other hand, we also had people who supported the ban.  “This is India and it has its own culture, and anything related to sex is generally not publicly discussed,” said Bal Krishna Bhartia, the president of the Confederation of All India Traders, a business association that started complaining about condom commercials a few months ago.

After all these endless debates, everybody has one question – Will the ban really stop the promotion of ‘indecent acts’ and  forbid kids from doing ‘unhealthy practices’?

Do let us know about your thoughts on the condom ban in the comment section.