Bharat Matrimony has come under the fire for its recent advertisement which had a Holi and International Women’s Day connect which incidentally fell on the same day this year. The video talks about how harassment during Holi can cause trauma to some women who eventually stop celebrating the festival. Netizens have slammed the matrimonial platform for its campaign, calling it ‘Hinduphobic’.
Bharat Matrimony’s controversial ad
The 75-second video was posted with the caption as originally tweeted with the caption, “A lot of women have stopped playing Holi due to the trauma they experience through harassment. Watch this video that brings this to life in a hard hitting way. This Holi, let’s celebrate Women’s Day, and choose to keep them safe everyday. #BeChoosy #Holi #Holi2023 #WomensDay.
This Women’s Day & Holi, let’s celebrate by creating safer and more inclusive spaces for women. It’s important to acknowledge the challenges that women face in public spaces and create a society that truly respects their well-being – today & forever.#BharatMatrimony #BeChoosy pic.twitter.com/9bqIXZqaXu
— Bharatmatrimony.com (@bharatmatrimony) March 8, 2023
The video shows a woman facing the camera with her face smeared in different colours. But as soon as she washes the face, we can see injuries on her face. The campaign motivates to play Holi in a manner that is safe and inclusive for women.
Netizens divided
While some netizens have lauded the campaign while others are calling it an outright attempt against Hindu’s festivals.
“I promise I will never recommend your portal to anyone ! I will show this post to them , and I am sure they will be convinced why not to use this website !” one furious netizen wrote.
“Are you guys shameless or what? Don’t you want Hindu customers or you don’t care about Hindu customers? Remove your ad from all your platforms and put an unconditional apology otherwise, a champion against your company will start by Hindus,” another netizens commented. It’s disappointing to see that you’re equating our festivals with harassment. Let’s celebrate diversity and respect each other’s culture and faith. Let’s spread love, not hate,” a third internet user wrote.
However, some came out in support of the campaign mentioning how everything in the name of culture is not good. We, as a society, need to doaway with certain practices. “Everything in culture is not good. Sati and Dowry are also part of Indian culture. We need to work against the negative part of the culture,” wrote one user.
“Reality is due to the 1% bad actors who harass women, the whole festival gets a bad name. The harassment is real, it happens, people forcefully apply colours on women in road, however it’s a small fraction of men that engage in such behaviour. Need to target them,” another user wrote.
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