Aishwariya Rai in Racist Ad - Page 7

Originally posted by: ..BlackSwan..

I think they wanted to show the boy as a mere servant..obviously queens or mistresses were more beautiful than their servants or maids. So the boy was made gloomy to highlight her beauty more..

people make controversies out of everything todays. If the ad was plotted on ancient India then it'll surely portray some culture of that time!

Even using child as servant is wrong. It is child labour. People are trying hard to weed out this social evil and such ads normalise having children as servants.

And no. Servants were not always less good looking.

There are instances of gorgeous maids whose beauty maddened kings so much so that they got special paintings made for them, honoured them and always gave importance to them whether they were able to marry them or not.

There is no "obviously" in queens and mistresses being more beautiful than servants and maids. Shameful class based stereotype!

Originally posted by: Nishita123

^ Yeah Sanjay Gupta, When something goes wrong, not Artist/Model 's hand, but if its appreciated, its all because of Artist/Model !!!

Aish should take responsibility here and condemn this ad rather than just saying she didn't know / its not her business how they use her pic !

The tweets only show the massive ego of these faltu Bollywood types. And how they look down upon everyone.

The open letter is not dumb. It has been worded with care and with proper evidence. It has well qualified and experienced people behind it.

And those people actually do work that matters unlike this uneducated filmi types who make crap dramas.

Society has every right to call out on mass media and make it responsible.

First of all the picture so pathetic, any corner photo studio wala say that.

Lmfao some dumb people. Slavery was in the past, which is why we should ignore the implications of it which still exist today? Idiots!

Aishwarya is dumb as a rock as well for not addressing the obvious racism in the ad.

I wish people had bit more knowledge of how things work when you model for a brand. Aishwarya is just their model, she has no involvement or say in their creative process. I doubt they would care or listen to her if she voiced her concern - i am not saying she should not try or attempt to take action, I am sure she and her team will for sure. Sanjay was not all wrong, he was just trying to explain how the business works. Do you really think Aishwarya creates the concepts or graphics POST the shoot?

Actress Aishwarya Rai has found herself in the middle of a controversy for featuring in an ad that's being labeled racist' by some.

In an ad for a jewellery brand that Aishwarya Rai endorses, the actress is seen sitting in the shade of an umbrella by held a dark skinned, emaciated boy, reminiscent of the slave-children who served Victorian ladies.

Reacting to the ad, a team of activists wrote an open letter to Aishwarya Rai, criticizing her for featuring in a racist ad.

Now, Aishwarya Rai's publicist has issued a statement on her behalf, clarifying that the slave-child' referred to by the activists wasn't part of the shoot at all. The publicist also issued a photograph from the shoot in which Aishwarya is seen without the emaciated, dark-skinned child.

Here's what the publicist's statement said,

On the onset we would like to thank you on drawing our attention to the observation of the perception of the advertisement. Here is an attachment of the shot taken by somebody during the shoot. The final layout of the ad is entirely the prerogative of the creative team for a brand. However shall forward your article as a viewpoint that can be taken into consideration by the creative team of professional working on the brand visual communication.

Thank you once again... Regards Archana Sadanand, IMAGESMITHS( Publicist to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan)

Earlier, a slew of activists including Farah Naqvi, Nisha Agrawal, Enakshi Ganguly, Bharti Ali, Madhu Mehra, Shantha Sinha, Harsh Mander and Mridula Bajaj, signed an open letter slamming the racist ad'.

The open letter said, "Advertisers routinely use fantasy images to sell products, they must surely desist from using images that condone, legitimise, normalise, or build desirable fantasy around slavery or servitude of any kind, including child slavery or child servitude. Further, the extremely fair colour of your skin (as projected in the advertisement) contrasted with the black skin of the slave-boy is obviously a deliberate "creative" juxtaposition by the advertising agency, and insidiously racist.

Today, many national and international movements are struggling to change at least the public culture that normalises child labour, a struggle that the Nobel committee has also recognised. We, therefore, hope you agree that this sort of advertisement -- a romanticisation of child servitude to feed into elite fantasies -- is extremely objectionable and avoidable.

As an influential member of the Indian film industry and a popular star with a large fan following, we trust that you wish to use your image in a manner that promotes progressive thought and action, and would not knowingly promote regressive images that are racist and go against child rights.

We, therefore, urge you to do the right thing -- cease to associate yourself with this offensive image by ensuring that further use of this advertisement is stopped."

Aishwarya is not just any regular model. In India she's arguably among the most powerful brand ambassadors. She probably has more say in the creative control of her ads than a regular TV or magazine commercial model. She at the very least should have the option of approving or disapproving the final product. If she really doesn't then she needs to hire new lawyers and management team and draw up a whole new set of contracts for herself. Given her massive popularity I doubt that many brands if any would give her a hard time over it. I really am having a hard time believing that she lets these companies to take her pictures and do with the images as they please.

An open letter...couldn't she just make a clear simple statement by herself?

Wait and watch...Amitabh and Abhishek are both going to make loud statements condoning the ad and the people who came up with this idea, all the while defending Aishwarya...while Aish hides in the shadows...again


Ad is super lame

Y these fans n directors n frnds of actors always support actors in all faltu things

Can't they point out their actors mistake
Simply accept their actor did wrong thing
But nope always supports n argues with other members

Whether it is dippy my choice r now this

Hope some day ppl thinks without biased