Zomato Kachra AdvtZomato, a food delivery service company, has faced criticism for featuring an actor who played a Dalit character of ‘garbage’ in the film ‘Lagaan’ in an advertisement for material made from waste. He also apologized on Thursday for unknowingly hurting sentiments.
What was in the advertisement?
A television commercial aired on World Environment Day on June 5 featured a picture of the film’s character ‘Kachra’ for Garbage. The ad was criticized on social media for being racist and was followed by an apology via the company’s official Twitter handle, saying it was meant to ‘spread awareness about plastic waste and the benefits of recycling in a humorous way’. was intended.
‘Insense’, ‘Racist’ and ‘Insensitive’
Expressing regret, the company said, ‘May be unknowingly we have hurt the sentiments of some communities and people. We have removed the video. People on Twitter termed the ad as ‘ridiculous’, ‘completely casteist’ and ‘extremely insensitive’. Neeraj Ghaywan, director of the film ‘Masaan’, filmmaker Madhurita Anand and Dalit historian Karunyakara Lela shared their views against the advertisement.