Studies suggest that a celebrity endorsing a product may or may not increase its sales. Advertisements involving usage of sexual annotations, scantily clad women or even those wrapped in nine-yards of saree but being expletive have more often than not hogged a lot of limelight. And ad gurus, being the creative people, have proven time and again that they are not afraid of making waves, turning heads or raising eyebrows--even if it is for all the wrong reasons.
Here are a few such advertisements that were labelled sexist, obscene and too hot for the ‘sanskaari’ Indian sensibility.
TV to Biwi
Highlighting how the serious concern of overpopulation can be solved with the advent of 3G, this Idea Cellular ad showed a husband getting intimate with his wife each time there is a power cut--which is quite frequent, by the way. Though brilliantly shot this‘TV to Biwi’ad made elders in the family squirm or pushed them to switch channel each time it was played at prime time.
Lady Boss
Another brilliant ad that sparked a debate on social media. While a section of social media users flayed it for showing men in poor light, another section while lauding women empowerment criticised the ad for showing woman in a unrealistic and demanding role--one where she is an efficient boss and in the other where she is equally efficient and doting wife. This Airtel ad created to show how its 3G video calling helps a couple manage their personal and professional life, aptly reflected the changing social scenario of the country.
Not wanting to be 18
Fairness creams and Indians’ fair-skin hypocrisy got a beating when a vaginal tightening cream18 Again’s ad popped up. It promised to make a woman ‘feel like a virgin.’ The ad earned the wrath of netizens and women in particular for the being sexist.
And from yesteryears...
The Tuff shoes ad in 1995 featuring Milind Soman and Madhu Sapre standing intimately and nude with a python wrapped around is the most controversial ad till date. Along with the models, all those associated with the ad had a ‘tuff’ time as they were booked for indecency and illegal use of the python.
This 1998 Swiss inner wear company ad which said, ‘And you thought your appetite for indulgence could only be whetted by Swiss chocolates’ saw real life partners Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea become the talk of the town not just for their palpable chemistry, but for being provocative. Eventually, it was discontinued.
No ‘toingggg’ please!
No one likes doing dirty laundry. But when this Amul Macho inner wear ad showed a woman having sexual fantasies about her husband while washing it, the IB ministry scrunched up its nose in disgust and censored it. The tag line of the ad, ‘Yeh toh bada toingggg hai!’ however became very popular.
Too steamy
Another highly expletive, suggestive and if we may add steamy ad that showed a bride falling for a man who had put Zatak Deo, saw feminist organisations up in arms against it. However it was not banned.
Banned!
An ad that wanted to educate Indians that making love, even in dreams should be done with the protection was, well, banned before it was released.
Bad timing
An ad that wanted to get laughs by depicting the lifestyle of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, made an ad with scantily-clad gagged women in the boot of Ford Figo driven former the PM. It , however, brew up a controversy in India for demeaning women--more so because they were released a few days after the country made it sex crime laws tougher.