Shoe manufacturer Puma on Thursday apologised for spray painting a wall of a heritage building in Old Delhi with graffiti for a video advertisement, PTI reported. The company said it was “unintentional” and a result of “lack of information”.
The company said it had a meeting with heritage body Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, civic authorities and the owner of one of the properties. During the discussion, stakeholders agreed that there is “need to raise awareness” among owners about guidelines for heritage properties, Puma India said.
The owner of the Chawri Bazaar property had allowed the graffiti and was happy to keep it even after the video was shot, the company had told PTI earlier. The owner had reportedly said that he “felt the art had made his wall cleaner and livelier.”
The Indian unit of the German firm also promised that the production company that did the artwork would “restore the wall” to its original look.
“We are very proud of India’s heritage and would never like to compromise it in any way,” Puma India said. “Our using this building wall for our campaign shoot has been completely unintentional and clearly due to lack of information.”
The company said the graffiti was done on the wall for the shooting of a video advertisement called “Suede Gully”. The production company involved had taken written permission from the owner of the property, Puma said.
Swapna Liddle of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage had first raised the issue on Facebook, saying the artwork might cause “permanent damage” to the structures.
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