Just a day after it was launched, a new ad film for the men’s vest brand Rupa Frontline, featuring Ranveer Singh, has found itself in a spot of hot water with animal right activist group Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). The group has taken offence to the depiction of Ranveer Singh punching a shark (a toy) in the ad, in a bid to impress a girl. In a statement released on Thursday, Peta India’s CEO Poorva Joshipura said, “By recruiting Ranveer Singh, Rupa Frontline is desperately trying to attract youth, but nothing shows how utterly out of touch with youngsters the company actually is than its depiction of cruelty to animals in its advertisement. There is nothing sexy about pretending to beat up an animal, and nothing that may disgust a girl more.”
Peta’s stance is that the endangering of sharks is a very real issue and that depicting even this type of casual violence ignores the reality. “The ‘ruthless killers’ in the human-shark relationship are actually the humans. Recent studies indicate that up to 73 million sharks are killed each year, mainly for their fins, which are used in soups.”
Rupa’s spokesperson Mukesh Agarwal clarified that the shark in the ad was a rubber toy and that no real animals were used in the shoot. He added, “It is not our intention to hurt anyone’s sentiments and we will be adding a disclaimer to the ad.” Most ad professionals and celebrities thought taking offence to the ad was a bit far-fetched, especially since the “shark” in the ad was so clearly fake. “Peta has always been publicity hungry,” says Prahlad Kakkar.
“They are all a bunch of over-reactive people. If an actor punching a shark for them is cruelty, then put them into a sea full of sharks and see how they react. Peta wants some bleeding heart publicity. A long time ago, they had a problem with a bank’s ad that depicted a rooster, crowing on a roof, as the symbol. Peta had an objection that ‘What if the rooster falls off the roof and hurts itself?’ The company had to later withdraw the advertisement. This is outlandish!”
Gopal M.S., the creative director for the agency Tailor, also feels that Peta’s objection is a quest for sensationalism. “With Ranveer Singh being associated with the ad, they (Peta) have a great scope for publicity.”
Ad professionals have also pointed out that in the commercial, it’s too obvious that the shark is a toy. Keeping in mind that the entire ad film has been shot in a humorous tone, ad filmmaker Vinil Matthew says, “It was obvious that the shark was a toy. I think they are overreacting.”
