On Monday, October 12, when a man entered a Tanishq Store in Gandhidham, Kutch, Gujarat, and asked the store manager to put up an apology on a board because the brand’s advertisement had hurt his feelings, it was reportedly misinterpreted as a threat and a signal of being ransacked. The man had also asked for forgiveness for his abrupt request to the store manager and shared his contact number to receive a picture of the brand’s apology upon leaving.
The incident happened after the brand’s new ad ‘Ekatvam’ released. The ad attracted controversy due to it’s portrayal of a Hindu woman with her Muslim Mother-in-Law celebrating an event together. The advertisement was taken down by Tata Group shortly after it created uproar on social media.
Ramesh Maitra, a local transporter, on Monday evening, had entered the Tanishq store to seek an apology. He gave the manager 24hrs to put up an apology in Gujarati. Out of obligation towards someone who had entered the store he was in-charge of, the manager quickly wrote him an apology in Gujarati on a piece of paper that read that Tanishq was sorry for its shameful ad.
Reasoning with Ramesh, Mirror reported, he said, “I felt that the advertisement was against my religion and Hindu community. So I went to the store here and asked the manager to tender an apology. He told me that the company had already withdrawn the advertisement and issued an apology. Since they are the only Tanishq store in Gandhidham, I told them that they should apologise, too. They put up the apology after I left.”
He then added, “There was no violence or fighting. I am a transport business to suffer. Anyone can check the CCTV footage to confirm this.”Addressing the media, Mayur Patil, the Kutch East SP said, “Following the Tanishq Jewellery advertisement on TV, there was some controversy over the issue. Following that, some Hindu community leaders gathered and met the Tanishq jewellery showroom officials in Gandhidham and had a discussion with the manager of the showroom. After that, an apology letter was placed by the store on display, apologizing for hurting anybody’s sentiments regarding the video. But some elements spread rumours that the Tanishq showroom was vandalised by mobs and it went viral on social media. But there is no merit in it. We have discussed this with the showroom manager and he said that the company has withdrawn that advertisement and also placed an apology letter on display in the showroom.”
Tanishq released an apology statement that 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 sentiments and well-being of our employees, partners and store staff.”
The Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Pradipsinh Jadeja, said that they will file police complaints against those who build up the fake news and spread it.
