Layer’r Shot ad campaign during England V New Zealand Match gets banned. The advertisement normalizes the ‘rape mentality’ among youth.
“It has come to the notice of MIB India that an inappropriate and derogatory advertisement of deodorant is circulating on social media,” said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The ministry asked TV channels to block the “derogatory” ad.
MIB also wrote to social media platforms, Twitter, and Youtube to immediately take down the advertisements. Their government’s letter stated, ‘’video is detrimental to the portrayal of women in the interest of decency or morality.”
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) put a halt to the telecasting of the ad. The Council also revoked “Suspended Pending Investigation” (SPI) asking the advertiser to respond accordingly.
The council stated that the ad narration violated ASCI’s Chapter II. The chapter prohibits any vulgar or indecent content in the depiction of women in advertisements. The chapter also prevents any advertisement from offending the masses.
Social Media reaction to Layer’r Shot Ad
The ad campaign, being telecasted amidst the England V New Zealand match, received heavy criticism on social media. The netizens called out that the ads promote sexual violence against women and put it in a ‘funny’ light.
https://twitter.com/priyankachopra/status/1533157557472092161
Celebrities like Priyanka Chopra, Richa Chadha and Farhan Akhtar have expressed severe criticism towards the campaign.
https://twitter.com/FarOutAkhtar/status/1533040120479494144
Content of the Ads
Layer’r Brand released two ads for its new product ‘Shot’. Women were shown in scenes implying rape in both the ads.
The first video shows a couple having their moment in privacy when a group of guys enters their room. They ask the guy about giving a “shot”, which is implied at the girl. But the narration is changed the next moment to “Layer’r Shot”.
The second advertisement shows four guys and a girl at a store. While the girl bends down to pick an item from a rack, the guys behind her say “Yeh ek hai, aur hum chaar. Shot toh banta hai.” As the girl turns around in fear, she sees them picking up the last bottle of shot deodorant from the rack.
