A series of perfume ads by a brand have been trending on Twitter today (June 4) and facing heavy criticism for promoting rape culture.
Layer'r, a body spray brand, featured a couple having an intimate moment inside a room in one of their advertisements. Three males entered, implying that they, too, would take a 'shot'. One of the males snatched a perfume bottle, as the woman was afraid they were referring to her.
Another advertisement had four men standing behind a woman in a store. "There are four of us, but only one of us will get a shot," one of the men said. When one of them attempted to collect a single bottle of perfume stored on a rack, the visibly shocked woman turned to them awkwardly. During England vs. New Zealand cricket series, the commercials were broadcast on television.
Celebrities took to social media to express their criticisms of the advertisement.
Filmmaker Farhan Akhtar took to Twitter to share his reaction.
Actor Richa Chadha pointed out how the brand and the agency failed in her tweet.
Singer Sona Mohapatra also expressed her frustration.
The Information and Broadcasting ministry released a statement on Twitter.
"The above-mentioned videos are detrimental to the portrayal of women in the interest of decency or morality, and in violation of rule 3(1)(b)(ii) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which inter-alia provides that the users shall not host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share any information which is insulting or harassing on the basis of gender." the statement said.
The Ministry has ordered the suspension of the advertisement and initiated an enquiry under the Advertising Code, reported ANI.
