Govt orders Twitter, YouTube to take down controversial body spray ads
PremiumThe Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) earlier said on Twitter that it has taken immediate action and notified the advertiser to suspend the ad
The ministry of information and broadcasting has ordered the suspension of two controversial deodorant advertisements by perfume brand Layer'r for their new body spray ‘Shot’.
The government has also directed Twitter and YouTube to take down the advertisements, stating that it violates IT intermediary rules 2021.
The ministry said that the videos were "detrimental to the portrayal of women in the interest of decency and morality".
This comes after the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) said that it has taken immediate action and notified the advertiser to suspend the ads.
“The ad is in serious breach of the ASCI Code and is against public interest. We have taken immediate action and notified the advertiser to suspend the ad, pending investigation," said the ASCI in a tweet.
Earlier, Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal took to Twitter to inform that she has written to the information and broadcast ministry, asking them to take down the ads.
The panel on Saturday said the advertisement "promoted gang-rape culture" and also issued a notice to the Delhi Police on the matter.
"The Delhi Commission for Women has come across a misogynistic advertisement of a perfume brand…," said the letter which went on to describe the objectionable advertisement.
In her letter to Thakur, Maliwal sought urgent action by the ministry to ban the advertisement.
She also said robust systems should be built to ensure certain checks and balances to make sure that such "filthy" advertisements that promote rape culture are never played again.
The ads have garnered widespread criticism on social media, with netizens also pointing out that it "promotes rape".
The first ad shows a young couple in a bedroom when four men – who seem to be friends with the man in the room – barge in. They then ask a crude question to the man, which leaves the girl evidently shocked.
One of the men then proceeds to take the 'Shot' perfume kept on a table, hinting they were talking about the spray the whole time.
The second ad is shot in a grocery store where a group of men can be heard saying "there are four of us, but there's only one, who will get a shot", while they were standing behind a woman.
Overhearing the conversation, the woman turns around in anger and fear when the ad reveals they were discussing the last remaining bottle of the body spray.