The Shirdi Sai Baba may miraculously open his left eye and left eye only, mind you, just as the Neilsen meters start whirring. The mullahs may spew out hate 24×7 with spit and polish. The 9 pm women may all be vampish shrews with Botox vials in their hip pockets. And aging heroes may fish out live pomfrets from the bras of teenaged actresses who have barely started missing their school periods.
The Orwellian ministry of information and broadcasting can somehow live with the stench of obscurantism, superstition, hatred, sexist stereotype, etc, dished out to the masses on television and in the movies. What they can’t stand is sex—or anything that may make it seem like a remotely pleasurable experience.
“We have found that the advertisement of Axe ‘Dark Temptation’ deodorant is indecent, vulgar and repulsive,” the I&B ministry has stated a communique to Advertising Standards Council of India.
Admittedly the Axe commercials are designed to be deliberately provocative, much as the old Benetton ads used to be. But who are we kidding about their impact on impressionable young minds when they are exposed to far worse and far more objectionable?
For the record, Priyaranjan Dasmunsi‘s ministry has banned AXN channel for airing a show called ‘World’s Sexiest Advertisements‘ and FTV for a show called ‘Midnight Hot‘. More specifically, the (official) moral police have had their eyes transfixed on underwear advertisements proscribing the television commercials of at least three brands in recent times.
Whoever it was who said “Whenever I hear the word culture, I reach for my gun“, never typed “banned commercials” in the search window on YouTube.
Read the full story: Government brands Axe ad ‘indecent’
Also view: If sanitary pads are OK, why not…
Desh ke police kaise ho? Moral police jaise ho!
churumuri 
The axe advertisement is vulgar? I think if that is the line of our culture I have totally lost it.
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The advertisement seemed pretty ridiculous and is ‘designed to shock’, but the goddamn culture police should really lay off.
We have too many damn hypocrites around these days…
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Beautiful writing!
Besides creating an unwanted precedent, Dasmunshi is wasting his time. Regulation is really futile in an information-irradiated society.
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I found the ad funny… I see more sleaze and vulgarity in movies and serials that are shown on TV !!1
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actually the ad should be banned not for vulgarity but for portraying women as creatures who go for some stupid perfume. if a guy wants to use a perfume let him for his pleasure not to make women yeild. this ad is same as those that say a woman is a good wife / her husband will like her if she does…. this this and this.
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