New Fabindia collection sparks outcry on social media

Ethnic wear retailer Fabindia ruffled up a few social media feathers on Monday with the launch of a new collection ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’ before Diwali. Several Twitter users urged consumers to boycott the brand to protest against the 'de-Hinduising of Deepawali'.
With the #BoycottFabIndia hashtag trending on Twitter, the IPO-bound company was forced to take down some of its tweets promoting the collection. A Fabindia spokesperson said the collection titled ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’ is not its Diwali collection, reported TOI.

The Diwali collection called 'Jhilmil si Diwali' is yet to be launched, the spokesperson told TOI.

“We at Fabindia have always stood for celebration of India with its myriad traditions in all hues. In fact ‘Fabindia – Celebrate India’ is our tagline and also a wordmark. Our current capsule of products under the name Jashn-e-Riwaaz is a celebration of Indian traditions. The phrase means that, literally.”

Fabindia is not the first to face backlash on social media for its campaign or collections. Only recently Tata’s jewellery brand Tanishq drew harsh criticism when it launched an ad that promoted inter-faith marriage, with netizens trending #boycottTanishq on social media.

A similar event occurred for clothing brand Manyaavar after an ad featuring Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt. Tyre maker Ceat’s commercial featuring Aamir Khan urging people to refrain from burning crackers also landed in controversy.

“Trolls, competitor-encouraged bots, sensitive people, hyper-sensitive people, hurt-people and all kinds of robots and human beings reside in this space we call social-media! And they intermingle undistinguished. Anyone who has been observing the trends on a hyper-sensitive social media would not have attempted this for sure, ” brand expert Harish Bijoor, who runs boutique consulting outfit Bijoor Consults, told TOI.

(With inputs from TOI)