Why Is Boycott Malabar Gold Trending On Twitter?

Boycott Malabar Gold starter to trend on Twitter in the early hours of April 22. Twitter feeds were flooded with posts on the latest advertisement of a jewelry brand. Many were seen criticising the advertisement featuring Kareena Kapoor Khan. The Twitter users pointed out that the actor posing in the ad was not wearing a bindi along with the jewelry. The hashtag Boycott_Malabar_Gold started to trend on twitter with over a thousand tweets on the subject.

The advertisement posters of the brand were part of the upcoming Akshay Tritiya, a festival celebrated by Hindu community in India. Many users expressed anger over the ad as they felt that an ad on the Hindu festival should have a woman wearing bindi, according to them, because that is how a woman looks Hindu. Many targeted Kareena Kapoor Khan seen in the ads and pointed out the fact that she is married to actor Saif Ali Khan, who is a Muslim.

Boycott Malabar Gold Trends On Twitter

One user wrote, "The latest advt by MalabarGold is another example of disregard to Hindu festival. Wearing Bindi is imp.part of tradational Indian woman dressing..Mocking Hindu tradations and expecting Hindus to spend their money for them. Not anymore." While another wrote, "Kareena Kapoor-Khan, who got married in an Islamic family, has made the advertisement famous. Malabar has disrespected the Hindu religious tradition with the money of Hindus for its economic benefits." The advertisement can be seen in a newspaper clipping posted by a user.

The newspaper clipping seems to have been taken from a Bombay Times issue of April 22. The outrage over the same started early morning on Twitter, many of the accounts which expressed outrage over the ad were unverified.

Another user tried to explain the importance of bindi in Hindu culture. He wrote, "Hindu tradition holds that all people have a third inner eye. The Two physical eyes are used for seeing the external world, while the third focuses inward toward God!" It is unclear if the user meant that women should keep the third eye closed with the Bindi or stay more focused towards the God inwards by wearing a Bindi. For the unversed, a Bindi is a sticky patch that many Indian woman wear between their eyebrows.

Suggested Reading: To Bindi Or Not To Bindi: Is Fabindia Ad Outrage An Excuse To Moral Police Women?

This is not the first time that a brand has been boycotted by the extremist Hindu section on social media over something as small as a bindi. Earlier, a clothing brand named Fabindia was caught under fire when one of its advertisement campaign showed women wearing Indian traditional wear without a bindi. A certain section of Indian social media accused the brand of showing indifference towards Hindu community. Accusations of disrespecting Hindus of India were also flagged. The main concern of the social media users boycotting such ads was same, portrayal of women in the ads who looked more Muslim as per the understanding of the boycotters.

The current boycott of a jewelry brand over the absence of bindi in one of its advertisements speaks volume of the state of the country which is gradually turning intolerant towards the religious minority. While there is violence on the streets, there is hate spreading on social media.