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He said, "We have maintained that the entire campaign should
be seen in the context of the recently concluded Cricket Series
against West Indies and Sri Lanka.The ads were meant to emphasize
using wit and humour the home advantage that India undeniable enjoys.
It is unfortunate that after airing for 2 weeks across 15 channels
with more that 5000 sports being broadcast and not a single negative
comment, the entirely unrelated Shilpa Shetty Big Brother incident
resulted in these complaints. We have always maintained that portraying
these ads as racist is ludicrous."
Pandey also confirmed that the client- Neo Sports Broadcast had
stopped airing these ads, with the completion of the cricket series.
O & M has not yet decided if they would be asking for a review
of the ASCI decision on the Chilies ad, as allowed by the rules.
The three ads started as part of the India -West Indies matches
with the tagline "Its tough being a West Indian in India"
and was extended to include Sri Lanka series as well. The Information
and Broadcasting Ministry received two complaints stating that the
ads showed racial overtones.
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