International men’s wear brand Jack& Jones recently launched an advertising campaign “Don’t hold back” featuring Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh.
The advertisement depicts Ranveer in a casual office attire and skinny jeans lifting a female co-worker on his shoulder. The image is captioned as “Don’t hold back. Take your work home.”
The misogynistic billboard created a huge backlash in Twitter. Many people including South Indian actor Siddharth tweeted against the ‘sexist’ ad.
A new low for women’s rights in the workplace in India. What were they thinking? #Fail pic.twitter.com/3PW5mMaKOt
— Siddharth (@Actor_Siddharth) November 20, 2016
@RanveerOfficial Enjoying your fees from this sexist ad, Ranveer? Please #DontHoldBack, tell us. Rap about it. @JackJonesIndia https://t.co/52wcqNMcH3
— satya (@desigrrl) November 21, 2016
#dontholdback from a feminist lens ( bad @Photoshop ) Hope @JackandJonesTM @jackjonesIndia @RanveerOfficial #GetDMsg ! #SpeakUp pic.twitter.com/vBT8cbaCqP
— #SocialSurfer (@AmiFromIndia) November 20, 2016
#DontHoldBack, just RT if you think this @JackJonesIndia ad by @marching_ants should be brought down for its #sexist undertones. pic.twitter.com/DgTaLuh3eO
— Payal Shah Karwa (@payalshahkarwa) November 20, 2016
Regret that one of our billboards has caused distress, we did not intend to offend anyone. #NOTHOLDINGBACK and withdrawing it immediately.
— JACK & JONES INDIA (@JackJonesIndia) November 21, 2016
Finally, the outrage against the campaign forced Jack&Jones to remove the billboard and apologise.