The Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Saturday wrote to Twitter and YouTube to remove video advertisements of a deodorant brand called “shot” by brand Layer’r that triggered outrage for “promote rape culture”.
An enquiry is being held by regulatory body, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) which found the ads going against the existing advertisement codes. For her part, the Delhi Commission for Women’s chairman Swati Maliwal issued a notice to the Delhi Police seeking registration of an FIR and removal of the advertisement from mass media. The police have been asked to provide a report by June 9.
The first ad starts with a couple in the bedroom. Shortly after, four of the guy’s friends enter the room and ask the “boyfriend”, “Shot maara lagta hai (Seems you took the shot)?” He replies that he did, leaving the woman in shock. One of them then rolls up his sleeves and begins to approach the bed saying, “Ab humari baari (Now it’s our turn).”
The woman recoils in fear of being attacked but the ad then reveals that the man was just picking up the perfume bottle from the dresser.
The second ad is shot in a grocery store where a group of men are seen having a conversation, standing behind a woman. One of them says, “Hum char aur ye sirf ek (We’re four and this is just one)”, when another man asks, “To shot kaun lega (Who will take the shot)?”.
The girl, overhearing the conversation, turns around in anger and fear when the ad reveals they were discussing the last remaining bottle of the body spray.
In emails to Twitter and YouTube , the Ministry said the ads violate the Rule 3(1)(b)(ii) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.
The Government said the video has been “viewed close to a million times and also shared on other social media platforms.” The emails called the attention of the social media platforms to “certain videos which appear to be an advertisement of a company, and are being posted by several users on the intermediary platform Twitter” and the “video titled “LAYERR SHOT MALL 15 OPT2 HINDI SUB HD” published” on June 3.
“The above-mentioned video is detrimental to the portrayal of women in the interest of decency or morality, and in violation of the 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 emails to both the platforms noted. The Ministry said the ASCI too has found the videos in violation of its guidelines and asked the advertiser to suspend the advertisement on an immediate basis.
Maliwal has also written to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur demanding that the “misogynistic” advertisement being played on mass media be taken off air. The DCW said the advertisement “promoted gang-rape culture”.
According to Twitter users, the ads were broadcast during the England vs New Zealand cricket match.