How An Advertisement Divides The Internet (image @tdinkar)

Discussions on everything and anything can take place in internet. Amusingly, an advertisement that appeared on the back of a bus in Bengaluru has now divided the internet. The advertisement for instant rasam paste, which featured a man with a text asking “Wife North Indiana?” written next to him, picked the attention of social media users.

An X (formerly twitter) user, Tejas Dinkar shared the picture of the advertisement, and captioned his displeasure in the ad by saying that, “Today in ads that manage to be sexist while also insulting both North and South India”. The opinion on the ad was seen divided in the comment section. When some of the social media users find it offensive.

One of the user said “we need to stop taking offence at every opportunity”, as he is not sure if the millions of household, where the wife is north Indian home maker will find the ad offensive. Another user thanked Tejas Dinkar for the “tip” about the Rasam. The user said, “I was actually looking for a good Rasam, and ordered this from Amazon just now. Thanks for the tip”.

Another user said do not know “which North/South/East/West Indian would be offended by this advertisement”, and find the Ad creative and funny, and added that would buy the Indira’s Rasam paste. Another user gave some advice and said that the society is sexist, “markets and hence Ad strategies are a reflection of it. Put your energy in transforming society not corporate Ads”.

Another of the user said while the Advertisement may be “inappropriate, but the ad itself isn’t necessarily racist or sexist. It simply reflects a common cultural experience in India…media just isn’t their to depict a more ideal society”.