Ever since NDTV and other media picked up on what they call India’s ‘first’ lesbian themed ad, everyone seems to have an opinion. Here’s a piece written by a student of Mass Media, second year BMC, St. Xavier’s College, Patna.

Has law failed to match the pace with which Indian society is changing? While the IPC 377, the law that forbids ‘unnatural sex’ is still in force, India’s first on-line advertisement depicting a lesbian couple preparing to meet the parents is happily circulating social media. The video shows two women in a live-in relationship flirting and dressing up for the occasion, talking about the expectations they may confront and their love for each other.

The ad titled “The Visit” is for a fashion collection brand has received over 2 lakh hits on YouTube over the past 10 days.

Abhishek Ghosh, co-partner of Hectic Content, the production house that produced the film says, “We tried to avoid the stereotypes associated with gay people. There was no one woman looking more masculine or feminine in the film. We tried to give it a candid feel like it is any other couple being apprehensive about meeting the parents.”

“The ad has got 3 million views across social media like Facebook, YouTube etc,” says Manish Aggarwal, VP (marketing) at Myntra Fashion which is promoting the ad. This advertisement has been conceptualized by ad agency Ogilvy & Mather, Bangalore.

The depiction of the same sex- couples is what makes this ad appealing at the right time says LGBT rights activist Ashok Row Kavi. “This is a bold statement. Lesbians around the world have been in the news, they are getting married and fighting for the rights. This is what society sees, same-sex couples living happily, and there is a huge audience that accepts this,” says Kavi.

Ad-man KV Sridhar says, “This trend started last year, with Fastrack ads that hinted homosexuality, Tanishq that showed a re-marriage etc. In India, while living in is still a shock, this ad has gone a step ahead. It is commendable.”

My take:

It is a positive move that popular culture has started to accept the choice of alternate sexuality. It may be true that still majority of Indians are reluctant to give respect and positive attitude towards gays but at the end of the day it shows that some sections, which play a vital role in reinforcing the idea, are volunteering to change the mindsets, and that is welcome.

Written by Ravi Ranjan Kumar

  Lesbian, Lesbian ad india, LGBT