Two advertisements of perfume company Layer have sparked outrage over their depiction of women and insinuation of rape, leading to The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting directing YouTube and Twitter to remove them and Delhi Com༺mission for Women seeking registration of an FIR against the company over ads that "promote rape mentality".
Two advertisements of Layer's brand 'Shot' h🐲ave attracted outrage in which male characters in the ad make rape insinuations at a f𒊎emale character.
The advertisements a🔯re detrimental to the portrayal of women in the interest of decency and morality, said the I&B🐼 Ministry in their directive to YouTube and Twitter.
The I&B Ministr🌳y called these advertisements "inappropriate and derogatory"; in a post on Twitter in which it shared its d൲irectives.
The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has issued a notice to Delhi Police for the🌊 registration of an FIR in the matter, said DCW's Swat𝐆i Maliwal.
Maliwal told ANI, "Deodorant adve🅘rtisement blatantly promotes the rape mentality in the count🐟ry. We've issued notice to Delhi Police that FIR must be registered and ad must be immediately taken down from all platforms."
What was in the ads?
In one ad, three men enter a room in which a man and a woman a🤪re there. One of them asks, "I believe you have taken the shot."
&quo𒁏t;Yes, I have,&ꩲquot; replies the man with the woman.
Then one of those who entered says "Now it's our turn" and walks ahead, immediately discomforting the woman, but he ܫgoes p꧋ast her and picks up the perfume bottle, following which the woman gets a sigh of relief.
The a♔d has been criticised for its sexual and rap🅰e-related insinuations.
In the second ad, a woman is walking with a shopping cart when four men standing behind her and looking at her as she bends to pick an item on a shelf says "There ar𓆉e four of us, and it's just one."
A second man says, "Who wil༺l take the shot?"
When the woman turns around alarmed at hearing this, the men's gaze and camera turns to Shot perfume bottle at the shelf and the women 🐽relaxes.
Questions on ads' approval
These adver🌸tisements have been criticised for promoting rapeಞ culture and joking about sexual assaults. People also highlighted that this is not an accident as an ad goes through several layers before it's shared publicly.
Actor Richa Chadha said, "This ad is not an acciden⛎t. To make an ad, a brand﷽ goes through several layers of decision making. Creatives, script, agency, client, casting. Does everything think rape is a joke? Revelatory!"
Actor Pri♏yanka Chopra said, "Shameful and disgusting. How many levels of🐽 clearances did it take for this commercial to be green lit. How many people thought this was ok? I’m so glad that it was called out and now the ministry has taken it down. Appalling!"
Not the first time
Layer's Shot perfume ads are not the first time perfume ads have been criticised. They have been called out for being sexist a♏nd mis💜ogynist earlier too.
Even Layer has noܫt made such ads for the first time. An earlier ad by the company featuring actor Akshay Kumar surfaced after these two were criticised on ♓social media.
In the ad, a woman w🎃ho Akshay rescues during a film shooting takes cover behind him, sniffs the perfume, and then jumps on his back and refuses to let go of him for days, even after the maker ends the film's shooting.
