Bharat Matrimony’s Holi ad receives backlash on social media; here’s why

This Women’s Day & Holi, let’s celebrate by creating safer and more inclusive spaces for women. It’s important to acknowledge the challenges that women face in public spaces and create a society that truly respects their well-being – today & forever.#BharatMatrimony #BeChoosy pic.twitter.com/9bqIXZqaXu

— Bharatmatrimony.com (@bharatmatrimony) March 8, 2023

The video shows a woman whose face is smeared with Holi colours. She is then shown splashing her face with water, only to reveal bruises and wounds caused by harassment women face during the festival. “Some colours don’t wash away easy. Harassment during Holi leads to immense trauma. Today, a third of women who’ve faced this trauma, have stopped playing Holi. This Women’s Day, let’s choose to celebrate Holi in a way that is safe and inclusive for women,” the text in the video said.

However, this concept failed to resonate with people as they flooded the comment section criticising the ad and seek an apology from the matrimonial platform.

“You guys are absolutely disgusting. How dare you link a social message with the Hindu festival of Holi. What has domestic abuse got to do with Holi? Have u lost your mind? You obviously don’t want Hindu customers. btw, u should focus on what happens on your awful site,” a user wrote.

What is this behaviour @bharatmatrimony ? Tum logo ka moral lecture Hindu festival pe hi kyu chalu hota hai ?

Women Harrassment is not a festival linked activity but companies like you unnecessarily link such things to Hindu festivals. Stop such gyan on Hindu Festivals.

— Pooja Sangwan 🇮🇳 (@ThePerilousGirl) March 8, 2023

Another commented: “It’s disappointing to see that you’re equating our festivals with harassment. Let’s celebrate diversity and respect each other’s culture and faith. Let’s spread love, not hate. #StopHate #RespectCulture”

You guys reporting this confirms your intentions.

You guys can`t speak where it is needed but resort to this hyper moral policing during our festivals to peddle a certain agenda.

If this is your mindset, one can only wonder what kind of matchmaking you guys must be doing.

— Vertigo_Warrior (@VertigoWarrior) March 8, 2023

“Are you guys shameless or what? Don’t you want Hindu customers or you don’t care about Hindu customers? Remove your ad from all your platforms and put an unconditional apology otherwise, a champion against your company will start by Hindus,” a user wrote on the microblogging site.

This, however, isn’t the only Holi advertisement that has been subjected to netizens’ fury. Prior to this, food delivery platform Swiggy took down its Holi billboard ads after being slammed on social media. The billboard featuring eggs asked people to consume eggs instead of smashing them on someone’s head during the Holi festivities.

“The recent Billboard advertisement of @Swiggy is a clear attempt to defame Holi & create a negative perception among people. The lack of similar Ads for non-Hindu festivals shows a clear bias. Show some sensitivity and Apologize to Hindu community. #HinduPhobicSwiggy,” a user wrote.

Swiggy’s advertisement is unacceptable & hurtful towards the sentiments of millions of people celebrating Holi. @Swiggy must take corrective measures by removing the ad & issuing a sincere apology to Hindus. We won’t tolerate Selective gyan on our festivals. #HinduPhobicSwiggy pic.twitter.com/dd2IUOJ0R2

— BALA (@erbmjha) March 7, 2023

Another tweeted: “We all know that Holi is the festival of colours not eggs so is this really necessary to portray such banners in this auspicious festival of colours..”

Several others, however, pointed out that the advertisement rightfully promotes the avoidance of food wastage.

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