Swiggy accused of Hinduphobia as bashing of Holi ad trends on Twitter

#HinduPhobicSwiggy goes viral; foodtech firm isn't the first to draw netizen ire and many festive ad campaigns in the past have fallen prey to social media trends

This year's Holi has not been a festive occasion for Swiggy, as the food aggregator’s billboards have drawn the ire Twitter users who accused the company of being 'Hinduphobic'. 

The billboard on Holi featured eggs with the words: "Omelette; Sunny side-up; Kisi ke sarr par. Get Holi essentials on Instamart." The campaign has offended many Twitter users who trended #HinduPhobicSwiggy on the platform, attacked the food delivery app, and even uninstalled it from their phones. This can be especially painful for Swiggy as it prepares for its upcoming IPO. The company is yet to comment on the controversy. 

However, the Swiggy kerfuffle is just a part of a trend. Right-wing activists and trolls have targeted several recent festive ad campaigns for their apparent 'Hinduphobia'. 

In October 2021, FMCG giant Dabur released a Karva Chauth ad that featured a lesbian couple getting ready for the ritual and celebrating the festival with the tagline, "Glow with Pride". This caught the eye of political leaders and netizens who expressed outrage at the company and trended #BoycottFem on Twitter. Dabur pulled out the ad and apologised. It said in a statement that the company "strives for diversity, inclusion, and equality", adding that there was no intention "to offend any beliefs, customs and traditions, religious or otherwise".

Just before the Dabur debacle, Indian clothing and home furnishing retailer FabIndia was embroiled in controversy. The brand tweeted a promotion of its festive collection under the name "Jashn-e-Riwaaz". Twitterati took umbrage, and soon enough, #BoycottFabIndia was trending. Hindutva activists and organisations claimed that using an Urdu phrase to name a Diwali fashion line hurt Hindu sentiments. A BJP MP tweeted that the campaign was an attempt at the "abrahamisation" of Hindu festivals. FabInidia pulled out the drive, issued an apology, and clarified that its Diwali collection was yet to be launched and that its name was "Jhilmil si Diwali" and not "Jashn-e-Riwaaz".

In September of that year, the celebration wear brand Manyawar landed in hot water when its campaign 'Kanya Maan' featuring Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt for its female bridal label Mohey drew right-wing ire. The ad, intended as a comment on the patriarchal nature of the practice of Kanya daan in Indian weddings, was seen as an attack on the Hindu religion. #BoycottManyavar trended on Twitter. However, Manyawar also received support from users, and the ad was not pulled down.

In October 2020, jewellery brand Tanishq incensed Hindutva activists with its Ekatvam ad campaign. The video depicted an interfaith family with a Hindu woman and her Muslim mother-in-law. The ad faced swift backlash with #BoycottTanishq trending on social media. The campaign was accused of promoting 'Love Jihad', with activists wanting to know why it was a Hindu woman marrying into a Muslim household and not the other way round. Despite receiving considerable support, Tanishq decided to pull out the ad and issued a statement saying it was saddened by the "inadvertent stirring of emotions". 

While some of the outrage in these campaigns seems to stem from legitimate users, most of it has been driven by political activists and leaders with a massive following to divert attention, or to foment meaningless cultural wars. Consumers must remain vigilant to differentiate between such orchestrated campaigns and organic efforts.