CHENNAI: On the occasion of Holi festival is to be celebrated today and tomorrow, online delivery platform Swiggy's Instamart made a billboard themed on the festival which netizens have alleged that it hurts the sentiments of Hindus and are now terming as 'Hinduphobic'.
The billboard markets eggs to be brought from the delivery platform and reads, “Omelette; Sunny side-up; Kisi ke sarr par. #BuraMatKhelo. Get Holi essentials on Instamart (roughly translates to Eggs (yes) Sunny side-up (yes) and throw at someone's head (no) #Dontplaybad)” (sic)
The billboard states that eggs are meant for consumption and not an object to be thrown at people during Holi celebrations. Netizens took to Twitter and are condemning the act by the delivery platform by sharing a pic of the billboard along with the hashtag #HinduPhobicSwiggy.
One user tagged Swiggy and wrote, "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 the Hindu community. #HinduPhobicSwiggy." (sic)
Another 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." (sic)
Some are even uninstalling the app and some users have even shared Swiggy's other ads for other festivals and questioned the brand on why they didn't do similar ads.
While the online delivery platform's ad hurt a portion of Twitter users, some claim that it was a harmless ad to promote food safety. A user wrote, “I’m genuinely curious. Is breaking eggs on someone’s head a part of Holi? In the ad, Swiggy seems to be asking people not to smash eggs on someone’s head for Holi. How is it bad?”
There hasn't been any official statement from Swiggy so far.
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