Too sexual for the desi Janta?

Axedonce again! Deodrant ads seem to be having bad days. Following the meeting ofConsumer Complaints Council, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)on Thursday upheld the complaints against three deodrant ads. Showcasing overt“sexual desire”, the ads were said to be “demeaning towomen” and “likely to cause grave and widespread offence.”Hence, they are to be pulled off and be appropriately edited, “keeping inview the generally prevailing standards of decency and propriety.”
“Out of the seven deo ads, we decided against onlythree with regard to decency.Indecent content is that which causes grave andwidespread offence... We only ban those that make tall claims, are misleadingand not fair to the competition, or demeaning,” says Allan Collaco,secretary general of the ASCI.
While purists look down upon‘crossing the limits’ in ads, the idea of banning the adsdoesn’t go down well with industry experts. Ad man Alyque Padamsee saysthat this is the case of covering up the piano legs since they look sexy.“Sex appeal has been there since cave man days. ASCI is not keeping upwith the times. I’d ask them to please go and watch “DelhiBelly” and “Ragini MMS”. Youngsters take these ads in theright spirit...It’s senseless to say that its too much for the Indian TVviewers,” he says.
Ad guru Shivjeet Kullar says, “Theseads also say a lot about the way the Indian society is moving, showing thedating scenario here that women are on men’s mind, not hygiene. Banningthe ads is a short-sighted step... Reality TV content is many times moreexplicit than any of the ads. They ban the ads since ads make for easytargets.”
Consumers say that it hardly matters what the adsshow. “They had banned a bike ad showing two nurses dressed in skirts.They have been banning ads for underwears. They behave as if the Indian TVviewer is naive, and will get corrupted,” says Sonia Sharma, an adprofessional. Media professional, Shashank Tyagi, says, “If someone is sofond of being a nanny, ask them to ban the reality shows, regressive TV soapsand some of the news channels as well... This is acting like a horse withblinders.”