Racist ad: How Aishwarya got the blame, brand got the publicity
Till yesterday, people knew of Kalyan Jewellers as just another exotic goldsmith chain that played up on the intrinsic Indian yearning for the yellow metal. Yes, we also knew that the Bachchans promoted the jewllery brand.
Now, ever since an open letter lambasting Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for appearing in an advertisement promoting racism and child slavery came into prominence, Kalyan Jewellers seems to have got an instant brand recall.
The jewellers were prompt enough to pull down the ad, but only after they had gained sufficient mileage. Trolls on Aishwarya that trended on Twitter, added to the brand popularity.
The print ad, inspired by European oil paintings featuring Aishwarya as a princess and an underage dark-skinned slave boy holding an umbrella, came under a scanner for being racist and promoting slavery.
No sooner than the bunch of activists questioned the advert echoing the most regressive practices of the medieval times, Twitter was flooded with messages directed towards Rai to withdraw her association with it. Towards the evening, Rai's publicist issued an official statement clearing her stand and putting the entire onus on the creative team stating that the "final layout of the ad is entirely the prerogative of the creative team for a brand."
Ads marred by controversies, by and large, make the most out of the cacophony. Maximising on the negative publicity, the brands end up benefiting the most. Whenever a celebrity gets embroiled in a controversial commercial and faces the ire of the audience, it adds to the prominence of the brand.
Like Aishwarya, Nicole Kidman found herself in a tight spot, as she appeared in a commercial of an exotic Airbus 380 launched by Etihad Airways. A letter by Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) demanded Nicole to disassociate from the Airline, which had anti-female employee policy, reminding her of the inspiring speech made at the International Women's Day. Twitter was abuzz as people lashed out at Nicole and Etihad counted the free brand mention it received, in each hate tweet and Reddit message.
Popchips, a prominent chips brand got a further boost in its sale when Ashton Kutcher appeared in its online ad as an Indian Bollywood producer looking for love. The Indian-American community vented their anger at Kutcher for promoting a stereotype associated with Indians and showing them in poor light. The ad was withdrawn but Popchips are still consumed by Indo-Americans.
SodaStream, a soda producing machine by an Israel based company, came into prominence when Scarlet Johansson, had to step down as its brand ambassador as a humanitarian group Oxfam opposed all trades with Israel. The controversy was good for the future of the product.
Controversies can benefit the brands in many ways. Just as a celebrity face adds to its brand value, the hullabaloo over the debatable theme brings them further to prominence. Ironically, the real issue that needs attention vanishes in amid the jarring discord.
Instead of taking the creative team to task, the debate shifted to whether Rai should or should not have appeared in the advert. Some constructive criticism and insightful comments from the ad filmmakers could have it a different hue.
But, just like most controversies that ends with a few flash in the pan reactions, this one too died a natural death. Only good the controversy did was that it gave free publicity and clear branding to Kalyan Jewellers.