UAE-based jeweller withdraws Amitabh Bachchan ad after strong objection

Kalyan Jewellers, which has strong presence in India, the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries, has decided to withdraw an advertisement featuring Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and his daughter Shweta Bachchan Nanda following strong objection from the banking fraternity.
Ramesh Kalyanaraman, executive director for marketing, Kalyan Jewellers regretted that the ad hurt the banking community.
All India Bank Officers Confederation, which has 320,000 members, had threatened to sue Kalyan Jewellers as it reflected the entire banking fraternity in a bad perspective.
"We understand that the advertisement has hurt sentiments of some people including members of our esteemed banking community. Any such hurtful interpretation being drawn is unintended. We state that the creative advertisement was a work of fiction and not a reflection of banking employees at large. We sincerely regret the inadvertent hurt caused and withdraw the advertisement from all media with immediate effect," Ramesh said.

The advertisement shows Amitabh Bachchan visits a bank branch because his pension was deposited twice mistakenly in to his account. Junior bank staff rudely asks Bachchan to see the manager who jokingly, asks Big B to quietly keep the money and have party as no one will come to know about it. Being a righteous man, Big B categorically rejects the bank manager's proposal angrily.
The Kerala-based jeweller said the ad, which was released earlier this month, was designed by L&K Saatchi & Saatchi creative advertising agency for its fifth edition of Trust Campaign series
It has signed Amitabh Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor Ahuja as its brand ambassador.
The jewellery retailer has 129 showrooms spread across India and the Middle East. In the UAE alone, it has more than 15 outlets in Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah. It is reportedly planning to invest Rs10 billion to open 20 new stores in India and also aims to foray into the US market in the current financial year. Employing currently 8,000 people, Kalyan Jewellers aims to add another 1,000 to 1,200 staff for the expansion.
-waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com