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Sun TV rejects Rediff.com’s latest commercial as offensive
The cheeky innuendo about the ‘big’ thing the protagonist has in the TVC has apparently been found to be offensive
Rediff.com’s recently unveiled TV commercial, which announces its new offering of unlimited storage space, has been rejected by the Sun TV Network.
The commercial shows two hot girls having a conversation about something big that their colleague, Raju, has. They ask each other in amazement, ‘Is it really that big?’ The shot moves to the rest of the office, where other employees are also wondering about Raju’s ‘big’ thing. Finally, one of them asks Raju, ‘Is it really that big?’ Raju replies, ‘It’s not big, it’s unlimited.’ The ad ends with a voiceover saying, ‘Rediffmail with free unlimited storage space. Big enough for anything.’
Sun TV officials have found the cheeky innuendo in the ad about Raju’s ‘big’ thing offensive. So, none of the network’s channels will air the ad.
Suparn Verma, scriptwriter and ad filmmaker, who ideated the ad, says, “I don’t think there is anything offensive in the commercial which should hurt the sentiments of society. The commercial could have been created in a plain, functional manner describing Rediffmail’s offer of unlimited storage space. It has purposely been kept a bit cheeky because then the message becomes fun and not just technical and also forms a better connect with the target audience, which is youngsters aged 15-25 years. I do not suppose this issue will affect the brand in any context or the way in which the follow-up campaign will be ideated.”
The media duties for the commercial are being managed by Starcom India. Manish Porwal, managing director, Starcom India, West and South, remarks, “It may be a bit early to comment on anything right now. But if such a thing has happened, it’s not a surprise. Sun TV is known to reject every one in ten ads that go on air in the media. They work under stricter norms to cater to the kind of mindset the audience has in the South. It’s like, if a commercial has even a single Hindi word as part of its script, it will not be allowed to go on air on the Sun TV channels.”
The commercial will be aired only in the English language throughout the country. So far, no other channel seems to have an issue with the way the message has been delivered in the ad. Other broadcasters that will telecast the TVC are NDTV, CNBC-TV18, Sony Entertainment and STAR.
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