Advertisement of Tanishq 'pulled off air' amid trolls; Boycott call divides Internet

New Delhi, Oct 13: An advertisement by the Titan Group's Tanishq Jewellery has been "pulled off air" after it received a huge backlash on social media with #BoycottTanishq trending on Twitter on Monday.

In the advertisement, an interfaith baby shower was targeted by a section on social media who felt it "promoted love jihad". But many others condemned the bigotry and hate-filled posts pushing the boycott trend, calling it completely against the Idea of India.

It also shows pregnant woman in a sari escorted by a woman she calls "Ma (mother)", to a baby shower ceremony. At the end of the video, the young woman asks the older woman, apparently her mother-in-law: "But this ceremony is not held at your home".

The mother-in-law, wearing a suit and her head covered with a duppatta, reply, "Isn't it a tradition for every home to keep daughters happy?" The video is no longer available on the YouTube channels of Tanishq after a barrage of tweets against the advertisement.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor this morning reacted sharply to those who called for the advertisement's boycott. "So Hindutva bigots have called for a boycott of @TanishqJewelryfor highlighting Hindu-Muslim unity through this beautiful ad. If Hindu-Muslim "ekatvam" irks them so much, why don't they boycott the longest surviving symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity in the world -- India? (sic)," the 64-year-old leader wrote on Twitter.

Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi also took to Twitter and said, "Thank you for making us notice the beautiful #tanishq ad dear trolls !"