A controversial graphic depicting a scene from Mahabharata is being shared on social media with a claim that e-commerce website Myntra insulted Indian deities.
The graphic depicts Draupadi's vastraharan scene from Mahabharata and shows Lord Krishna using a smartphone and shopping for 'extra long sarees' on e-commerce website Myntra. Following the outrage, #BoycottMyntra became one of the top trends on Twitter with over 12,000 tweets on Monday, 23 August.
However, we found that the graphic is an old one and was created by a youth-oriented website ScrollDroll in 2016 and not Myntra.
Even back then, social media users had called on to boycott Myntra and the fashion e-retailer had clarified that they had no connection to the graphic.
CLAIM
The graphic was widely shared on social media as users called it 'insulting' and 'anti-Hindu', resharing it accompanied by the hashtag 'BoycottMyntra'.
The image was posted to an Instagram page called 'HindutvaOutLoud' and screenshots of this post went viral across platforms.
An archive of this post can be seen here.
(Source: Instagram/Screenshot)
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We ran a reverse image search on the controversial graphic and came across news reports from 26 August 2016 that carried it.
We found news reports from 2016, when social media users called for Myntra's boycott over the graphic.
(Photo: Google/Altered by The Quint)
The report regarding the image by India Today noted that the graphic was created by ScrollDroll, a publication popular for 'interesting graphic cards' in February 2016.
The graphic was a part of a series titled 'Indian mythology meets today's digital technology', which imagined characters from Hindu mythology using smartphone applications like Myntra, Uber, Zomato, and Tinder.
It further said that ScrollDroll had owned up to creating the graphic as Myntra faced public furore.
Looking through the publication's social media handles, we found ScrollDroll's tweet from 2016, taking up responsibility for the graphic while absolving Myntra.
The creators of the graphic took responsibility and issued an apology for hurting sentiments.
(Photo: Twitter/Screenshot)
The viral graphic also carries ScrollDroll's watermark on the top-left corner and has the publication's web address at the bottom-right section.
ScrollDroll's branding is visible on the viral image.
(Photo: Instagram/Altered by The Quint)
Myntra had also retweeted ScrollDroll, informing people that they had nothing to do with the graphic and did not endorse it.
The company's verified Twitter account added that they would pursue legal action against the publication and that ScrollDroll had since taken down the controversial graphic.
Myntra clarified that they had no connection to the graphic in any way.
(Photo: Twitter/Screenshot)
Evidently, e-commerce brand Myntra has nothing to do with the old graphic, which was created by ScrollDroll in 2016, which had led to netizens demanding Myntra's boycott even then, causing the publication to consequently take it down from all its social media pages.
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