Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had caught herself into trouble over a print ad for a jewellery brand. A group of activists wrote an open letter slamming the actress for the racist advertisement. The ad showed child carrying an umbrella over the actress’ head, which they felt is promoting child labour.

In an open letter, fans expressed their disappointment and said, “While advertisers routinely use fantasy images to sell products, they must surely desist from using images that condone, legitimise, normalise, or build desirable fantasy around slavery or servitude of any kind, including child slavery or child servitude. Further, the extremely fair colour of your skin (as projected in the advertisement) contrasted with the black skin of the slave-boy is obviously a deliberate “creative” juxtaposition by the advertising agency, and insidiously racist. As an influential member of the Indian film industry and a popular star with a large fan following, we trust that you wish to use your image in a manner that promotes progressive thought and action, and would not knowingly promote regressive images that are racist and go against child rights.”