MP gold is less bright, says Tanishq ad

Goldsmiths' association in Madhya Pradesh threatens court action

Madhya Pradesh Swarnakar Samaj Kalyan Samiti has objected to an advertisement of Tanishq, a Tata unit dealing in gold, platinum and diamond, and accused the company of tarnishing the image of Indian jewellers and goldsmiths.

The advertisement has allegedly questioned the authenticity and purity of gold being purchased from the market.

The Tanishq advertisement slogan says, "Kya aap ko maloom hai, Bhartiya sunaron se kharida gaya 80 per cent sona 13.5 carat se 18 carat ka ho sakta hai?" (Do you know 80 per cent of the gold purchased from Indian goldsmiths could be anything between 13.5-carat and 18-carat?)

This has upset the goldsmiths, who in turn have raised the question as to how Tanishq could question the authenticity of the goldsmith community of the country.

"It's an insult to us, and we have asked Tanishq to clarify within 14 days," said the president of the Swarnakar Samaj, Rajesh Verma Soni. Talking to the media, he said while praising itself, the company had no business to sully the good name of others. Even the local Tanishq franchisees were found tell customers they had been duped while buying gold from the Sarafa market of Indore, Soni said.

The Samaj would launch a statewide campaign against the company and also file a defamation suit, Soni said. The Tanishq outlet in Bhopal did not give a reply to the objections to the advertisement and palmed the issue off to the Bangalore unit, he added.

"They have verbally apologised. But we want a written apology, apart from the discontinuance of the advertisement," Soni said.

The Samaj has taken up the matter with its district-level units and also its Chhattisgarh counterpart. "We have asked our members to wait for 15 days and then decide on the course of action," Soni said.

Soni said gold ornaments could not be made with absolutely pure gold. "One needs to add fillers to make the ornament strong," he added.

"Tanishq is using a carat-meter instrument to convince customers that other goldsmiths make ornaments with lower gold content," Soni said.

Tanishq Outlet Manager Anil Nair said he did not know of the allegation. As the advertisement was released from the Tanishq headquarters, he could not do much about it, he added. "It can be dealt with only by our head office," Nair said.

Tanishq Franchisee Rakesh Gupta said, "As it is a corporate ad, the matter will be dealt with by the Bangalore office, and I've forwarded the objections of Swarnakar Samaj to the corporate office."

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All that glitters...

• Madhya Pradesh Swarnakar Samaj Kalyan Samiti has objected to an advertisement of Tanishq and accused the company of tarnishing the image of Indian jewellers and goldsmiths
• The advertisement has allegedly questioned the authenticity and purity of gold being purchased from the market
• The association will launch a statewide campaign against the company