We at Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) have received numerous complaints from devout Hindus regarding the demeaning picturization of a Hindu Guru and His disciples in the advertisement ‘Britannia Good Day – Happy Baba Ke #Funjabi Funde’. This is a very distasteful way to market and sell – Good Day biscuits!
This degrading advertisement can be viewed on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo7r2MwUnQw
Upon reviewing the complaints, the HJS team immediately wrote an appeal letter addressed to Britannia Industries’ Consumer Feedback division and Secretary/Compliance Officer Mr. Rajesh Arora requesting him to remove the Good Day commercial from the electronic media including YouTube. The appeal letter also explained that in Hinduism, a Guru, is highly revered and is considered to be the ultimate authority in knowledge and spreading spirituality. However, your advertisement has denigrated the perception of a Hindu Guru by presenting him as a mere rap artist, surrounded by dancing girls. This leads to insult and tarnishing the noble image of a Hindu Guru and also taints the sanctity of the Guru-Shishya parampara established in Hinduism for many centuries. In addition, the ad’s slogan also hurts the religious sentiments of Hindus.
The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) team has neither received a response from Mr. Rajesh Arora nor from the Consumer Feedback division. Consequently, HJS now requests all readers to appeal against this humiliating representation of a Hindu Guru and His disciples peacefully and lawfully by either writing an email or calling the numbers below requesting to remove this Good Day Advertisement.
Email: rajesharora@britindia.com (Mr. Rajesh Arora)
feedback@britindia.com (Consumer Feedback Div.)
Or,
Tel: 91-33-2287-0505 /1-800-4254449 (Toll Free)
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Please see below the appeal letter written by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti:
From: Hindu Jagruti appeals@hindujagruti.org
Date: Sat, May 16, 2015 at 9:54 AM
Subject: Britannia Good Day Advertisement denigrates Hindu Guru’s
To: rajesharora@britindia.com
Namaste Mr. Rajesh Arora,
Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) is a registered NGO in India doing social, Hindu Dharma related and national welfare work. The Samiti is also active throughout the world, educating people about Hindu Dharma in a scientific way, campaigning against malpractices done as Hindu Dharma related practices and solving problems related to the misrepresentation of Hindu Dharma. For further details please refer to our website www.HinduJagruti.org.
We at Hindu Janajagruti Samiti have received several complaints from devout Hindus regarding the insulting picturization of a Hindu Guru and His disciples, in the advertisement “Britannia Good Day – Happy Baba Ke #Funjabi Funde”, which is a very offensive way to market and sell your product – Good Day biscuits.
This commercial can be viewed on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo7r2MwUnQw.
We are sending this appeal letter to notify you regarding the humiliating representation of a Hindu Guru and His disciples as presented in the Good Day advertisement. In Hinduism, a Guru, is highly revered and is considered to be the ultimate authority in knowledge and spreading spirituality. The Guru is accorded the highest respect, and is equated with God. In Bharat, the Guru-Shishya parampara has been in existence for thousands of years and has played a significant role in the preservation of Hindu Dharma and the passing of knowledge and traditions from one generation to another. It has also contributed greatly to the survival and continuity of Hinduism even in the most turbulent times.
However, your advertisement has denigrated the perception of a Hindu Guru by presenting Him as a mere rap artist surrounded by dancing girls. This leads to insulting and tarnishing the noble image of a Hindu Guru and Hinduism. It also hurts the religious sentiments of Hindus.
You may have made this advertisement unknowingly; however, hurting religious feelings leads to an offence as per the Indian Penal Code section 295A.
We at Hindu Janajagruti Samiti have campaigned to educate people about such denigration that occurs through various products, and after learning about the denigration, many companies have removed the Deities’ pictures from their products. Please refer to our website http://www.hindujagruti.org/hjs-activities/stop-adharma-practices to see our ongoing and successful awareness campaigns against the denigration of Hindu Dharma.
We urge you to consider the above points and remove the Good Day commercial – “Happy Baba Ke #Funjabi Funde” from the electronic media including YouTube to prevent further denigration of the highly revered image of a Hindu Guru.
We stress that our aim in bringing up these points is to educate and ensure that the Guru-Shishya parampara and Hinduism get accurately represented in society. Hinduism has been misrepresented at many levels. You can take one step towards ensuring that the Guru-Shishya parampara and Hinduism do not get disgraced by discontinuing the Good Day advertisement.
Sincerely,
Hindu Janajagruti Samiti