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Journalism of Courage
A billboard in Chennai has grabbed worldwide attention, with nearly ten million views, for its witty wordplay and a pop culture reference. The ad, created by Assana, a colorectal and gut wellness clinic based in Tamil Nadu’s Chennai, takes a clever approach to rectal health, mentioning Elon Musk.
Known for his ambitious vision to make humanity a multi-planetary species, Musk has long championed the idea of colonising Mars through his ventures like Tesla and SpaceX. “Let Elon explore Mars. Our mission is Uranus,” the now-viral billboard reads. Sharing the photo, an X handle @Rainmaker1973 wrote, “This billboard in India.”
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The post garnered over a million views, with a flurry of reactions. “Whoever named it Uranus had no idea of the long term repercussions and running joke with that name,” a user wrote. “Honestly probably appeals to a lot of people’s sentiments there ~why is so much money going to mars while so many people are dying right now,” another user commented.
“That’s a hilarious and clever ad, definitely grabs attention while staying on message,” a third user reacted. “I think this is a silly joke. lol.Silly jokes unite more people in a single community. uranus unites us across different divides and culture,” a fourth user chimed in.
In 2017, food delivery giant Zomato created a controversy with its ‘MC BC’ ad. The billboard with a Zomato ad featured the abbreviations ‘MC’ and ‘BC’—widely recognised as shorthand for Hindi expletives—in bold text on Zomato’s poster. While many users applauded the brand’s clever wordplay, others criticised the campaign for seemingly normalising profanity in a public and widely accessible medium.
