There was a time when people did not need advertisements to teach them about communal harmony or confirm their belief in it.
Rightwing trolls forced Tanishq, a brand promoted by the Tatas, to remove an ad that depicted a Muslim mother-in-law arranging a baby shower for her Hindu daughter-in-law according to the customs of the latter’s faith. The makers were trolled for promoting love jihad and caved in.
There was outrage. Those who hours ago were swearing by the jewellery brand began to call the Tatas spineless.
In a statement explaining the reason for the withdrawal, the company said, “We are deeply saddened with the inadvertent stirring of emotions and withdraw this film keeping in mind the hurt sentiments and well-being of our employees, partners and store staff.”