Is there something really wrong with Indian ads or is the public getting too sensitive?

Advertising has always been a medium which reflects the current society. On the other hand, it also helps society be more aware and shows people how to break the barrier of our narrow mindedness. One such example in recent years can be Share the Load Campaign by Ariel.

Unfortunately, these leaps of faith also have its downfalls, as we saw in the recent ad by Tanishq. It is one of the significant instances where an ad brought people on street revolting against the brand. Was this an unforeseen mistake that the brand didn’t realise or was a strategic move by the brand to target a very different kind (left minded) audience? To understand this we can see a similar move made by Nike when they launched their campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick. The campaign went against the United Stated government leading to widespread protest against Nike. But for Nike, it wasn’t a mistake. They clearly were focussing on people who are their target audience and brought them closer by making them feel that Nike shares the values that they also believe in.
Is it the same situation with Tanishq or did they made a strategic mistake by targeting a very small group of their audience?

Another ad that received a similar fate was an ad by White Hat Jr.. Whereas on the one side reasons behind the Tanishq ad getting banned were very clear, people are still unsure or are debating if there is anything particularly wrong with the White Jr.’s ad which made ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India) to take such a severe step.
Let’s take a look at the narrative of the ad. One of the ads that got banned showed a 6-year-old student learning coding from White Hat Jr. and creating a mobile app. The advertisement then shows major MNCs to running after him to offer him a job position with packages of around 21 crores.
This, in reality, isn’t completely untrue as nowadays the highest packages students get out of Indian colleges are from the stream of computer science and this is a trend that isn’t stopping any soon. Hence, parents and students must be ready to accept that coding is the language of the future and kids of future will be accustomed to learn to code like the generation before they got accustomed to using technology.
The ad got banned on the grounds of creating a fear of missing out amongst the parents if they didn’t get their kid in White Hat Jr. While some debate that this is a fact not a fictional narrative that the ad tried to convey other says in the society where kids are pressured to study for IITs at the age of 5–6, these type ads create extra pressure among parents which in turn put it on their kids. Whilst it might be the reality with Indian prodigies like Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella and others, one must not forget every child isn’t the same. By targeting parents and blatantly pressuring them by showing that the only way that they can make their child climb the corporate ladder is by making them enrol their 6-year-olds in White Hat Jr. is not only concerning for these kids but also parents who already have pressure to make their kids a trophy child. These ads are no different from ads of Fair and Lovely cream that showed girls getting jobs because of their fairer skin.

As we saw the nature of both the ads that got banned are poles apart, the reason for them getting banned is similar. Public outcry. While the consumers of earlier day overlooked or sometimes accepted any selling proposition that the companies had to offer, the new-age customer is aware and ready to speak out against these brands with mediums now available to them, majorly being social media. So, we are stepping into a world where humongous brands have to bow down to what customers are ready to accept, be it too progressive or too conservative.