Kalyan Jewellers withdraws controversial Big B ad, apologizes to bankers
What's the story
Kalyan Jewellers, on Sunday, apologized for their advertisement which showed bank employees in a bad light and said the clip has been pulled down from all media platforms. The company invited ire of All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC) after the advertisement implied that bank officials weren't serious about their job. Notably, for this advertisement, Amitabh Bachchan collaborated with daughter Shweta Bachchan Nanda.
The advertisment
Clip showed Big B and daughter being ill-treated by bank-employees
The clip was a part of Kalyan's 'trust' series and was woven around the idea of 'vishwasam'. It showed an old Big B going from counter to counter in a bank, accompanied by his daughter, to complain about an error in pension. The bank employees were shown talking rudely to the father-daughter duo and ill-treating them, after which they approached the manager.
The problem
Bank officials said advertisement promotes distrust against them
Further, the advertisement showed Big B and daughter informing the manager that his pension was credited twice. When the manager told them to enjoy it, and no one will know, Big B said, he will know and he can't accept wrongdoing. This premise of the advertisement implied callousness of bank employees, and they said it would lead to public mistrust towards them.
Twitter Post
Here is the advertisement that made Big B proud!
T 2870 - Emotional moment for me .. tears welling up every time I see it .. daughters are the BEST !! pic.twitter.com/7Jes2GDPBo
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) July 17, 2018
The defense
Facing flak, Kalyan Jewellers says it was unintentional
The AIBOC had demanded an apology and asked the company to withdraw the advertisement. In their defense, Kalyan wrote, "We understand that the advertisement has hurt sentiments of some people including members of our esteemed banking community." Saying it was unintentional, they added, "We sincerely regret the inadvertent hurt caused and withdraw the advertisement from all media with immediate effect."
Twitter Post
Didn't intend to hurt officials: Kalyan Jewellers
Media statement on withdrawal of advertisement. pic.twitter.com/omYmrJYbIB
— Kalyan Jewellers (@KalyanJewellers) July 23, 2018