Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Opinion / Quick Edit/  Opinion | The heal thing
BackBack

Opinion | The heal thing

An advertising campaign titled “Love is love” by Coca-Cola in Hungary, launched to coincide with the Sziget festival that promotes gay acceptance, has run into a wall of conservative reproach

A billboard, part of a campaign by Coca-Cola promoting gay acceptance, is seen in Budapest, Hungary (Reuters)Premium
A billboard, part of a campaign by Coca-Cola promoting gay acceptance, is seen in Budapest, Hungary (Reuters)

An advertising campaign titled “Love is love" by Coca-Cola in Hungary, launched to coincide with the Sziget festival that promotes gay acceptance, has run into a wall of conservative reproach. The brand’s posters celebrate same-sex couples and feature such taglines as “zero sugar, zero prejudice" (for a sugarfree variant of the fizzy drink). This has proven much too provocative for some supporters of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s nationalist Fidesz party, which is known for religious conservatism and a hardline anti-immigrant stance.

Although Orban himself stopped short of endorsing a boycott call of the product by a senior member of his party, few think that he is okay with such overtly liberal imagery in public spaces. For nearly a decade, Orban has built a reputation for stoking all manners of prejudices to suit his politics, to the extent that he is often viewed by his European counterparts as a threat to their vision of a modern, integrated and pluralistic continent. On same-sex union, he has been clear: these are not to be tolerated. All this, however, only makes Coca-Cola’s campaign all the more laudable.

Advertising in India, for long much too shy of stirring the social cauldron or taking up openly liberal causes, has lately begun to softly venture where angels had feared to tread. For instance, Tanishq’s wedding film that breaks ground by celebrating remarriage or Myntra’s “The Visit" commercial, which challenges hetero-normative notions of coupledom are novel starts. If more and more brands calculate that the gains of boldness outweigh the risks of a backlash, we may see even more interesting fare.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less
Published: 06 Aug 2019, 04:09 PM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App