Actress Priyanka Chopra criticised the Shot deodorant ad for touting misogyny and turning a woman's fear into a joke. She said the making of an ad goes through several stages, and the rape joke was not a mistake but a decision made by several layers of the company.
She angrily asked how many levels of clearances did it take for this commercial to be greenlit. "How many people thought that this was ok?"
The deodorant ad received severe backlash, and the Ministry of Information and Broadcast ordered it to be removed. Priyanka tweeted that she is happy that the ad was called out, and it was taken down.
The brand and product in question are Layer'r and their deodorant SHOT. It was criticised for promoting rape culture and making a joke out of a crime.
In the ad, a man and a woman are seen in a room after supposedly sharing an intimate woman. Four men enter the room and say it is now time for their 'shot'. The woman is visibly frightened thinking the men are going to rape her. Soon the "joke" of the ad is revealed, and the men are asking for the deodorant called shot. In another ad by the same brand, a woman is shown in a similar situation while shopping.
Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar also called out the ad and asked what twisted mind must take to create an ad with gang rape innuendo. He tweeted: "What incredibly tasteless and twisted minds it must take to think up, approve, and create these stinking body spray 'gang rape' innuendo ads..!! Shameful."
Actress Richa Chadha said this ad is not an accident. She tweeted that a brand goes through several layers of decision-making to make an ad. "Creatives, script, agency, client, casting..." Does everyone think rape is a joke, questioned Richa.
Singer Sona Mohapatra suggested the ad could be a publicity stunt and tweeted she is "gagging after seeing it". "Wondering if giving them additional publicity is worse," she wrote.
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has launched an investigation. The government has also sent a letter to Twitter and YouTube stating the ads are "detrimental to the portrayal of women in the interest of decency or morality".
They are in violation of rule 3(1)(b)(ii) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, said the ministry.
The letter pointed out that the rule says 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 Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has also found the videos to be in violation of its guidelines and notified the advertiser to suspend the ad on an immediate basis.