Twitter users on Friday morning saw #BoycottMyntra trending, in response to an advertisement that seemed to use characters from Hindu mythology as a way to publicise Myntra.com, a digital clothes retailer. Even as the call to Boycott the website began echoing around the internet, followed by those asking whether it was truly offensive, it became clear that the ad was not new – nor had it been created by Myntra.
In February, a publication called ScrollDroll – no connection to Scroll – uploaded a series of fake advertisements imagining mythological characters in advertisements for popular digital products, such as Narada looking for flights or the people of Ayodhya filling out a change.org petition for Ram to return.
This is how ScrollDroll described the series: "What would have happened if characters from Indian Mythology used modern day technology. We give a twist to Indian Mythological tales spicing it up with modern mobile apps, services and internet."
ScrollDroll describes itself as a "bunch of creative professionals based in Delhi who like to play with words, ideas, colors and sketches. Coming from digital marketing and creative backgrounds, we love to create content that interests, inspires and delights."
The pictures made their way around the internet, and were even featured on the HuffingtonPost in July, in a piece entitled '22 Images That Perfectly Capture Indian Mythology In The Digital Era.'
One of these pictures featured Krishna shopping online for "extra long sarees" on Myntra.com for Draupadi as she is being disrobed. This ad was discovered by people on August 25 – possibly because its Krishna theme brought it up again on Janmashtami – and it led to outrage, as you can see in the tweet below.
Soon after #BoycottMyntra began trending,
The originators of the visual tried to use Twitter to point out that Myntra had nothing to do with it, saying that ScrollDroll had taken it down in February itself as they never intended to hurt sentiments.
And the e-tailer also re-tweeted one of these posts, confirming that they had nothing to do with the image.
Yet because of the nature of the internet, the picture that was created in February and apparently taken down back then, continues to boomerang around social media, inspiring outrage aimed at entirely the wrong target.
Those who knew what was going on, of course, jumped in to offer some thoughts as well.
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