The light is out. In the greenish-grey haze is a young woman, stumbling in the dark. A strapping man appears and she swoons, spraining her ankle. He picks her up and begins to carry her up a flight of stairs. The woman asks if she is too heavy for him. “Not as heavy as your sister,” he replies. The corner of the screen goes dark, and the name of a deodorant appears, with the legend ‘Barely legal’.

A man-bike is in a garage, recounting his day on the road. Mid-sentence, the rough-tough bike takes a swig of engine oil meant for smaller, less powerful machines. Immediately he crosses his legs, and begins to talk in an effeminate manner.

TV ads with messages endorsing infidelity and chauvinism are triggering complaints to the Advertising Standards Council of India.

The deo ad is more than just flirtatious, say the complaints — it is indecent and inappropriate, suggesting sex between a man and his sister-in-law. A standard 15-day notice has been served on the advertiser, following which the matter will go to the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) to check for compliance with the ASCI code.

Suman Srivastava, CEO, Euro RSCG India, the firm that made the Wild Stone-Barely Legal deo ad, is combative and mildly scornful.

“Glad it has been noticed, first of all,” Srivastava said. “The point is, if you look at the jija-saali angle, there are references to it in our literature and art. It has been in our culture. Our ad is naughty and sexy. It is not exactly recommended for little children, but on the whole, it is not wrong. The rest of it is happening in people’s minds.”

... contd.