Sprite in trouble: Calcutta HC advocate files complaint against beverage brand, Nawazuddin Siddiqui for offending Bengali community

An advocate of the Calcutta High Court Dibyayan Banerji filed a complaint against the CEO of the India division of the beverage giant Coca-Cola and Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui for allegedly hurting the sentiments of the Bengali community in one of its recent advertisements. 

Banerji's petition reads: "The main advertisement by Coca-Cola for its product Sprite was in Hindi. And we have no problems with that. We only have a problem with Bengali dubbing of the ad which is running on various TV channels and websites."

The petition adds that the advert shows Nawazuddin Siddiqui laughing at a joke that says Bengalis sleep hungry if they do not get anything easily. Banerji says: "Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui is laughing at one of the jokes, which says, ‘shoja anguley ghee na uthley, Bangali khali petey ghumiye porey’. In English, it means that if Bengalis don’t get anything easily, they sleep hungry. And this, we think, hurts the sentiments of the Bengali community". 

This advertisement is based on the Bengali idiom which says ‘shoja anguley ghee na uthley, Bangali khali petey ghumiye porey’, which means you must go beyond your means if something cannot be achieved simply. 

Banerji also mentioned that the Hindi advertisement is offensive and it attracts section 66A of the IT Act and section 153 of the Indian Penal Code. The Calcutta High Court advocate further noted: "We also want this type of shallow act and gimmicks to not be promoted in the future". 

The company pulled down the ad from TV and its social media platforms after complaint. Sprite India said in a note written in Bengali that it regrets the recent ad campaign for the cold drink and that the company respects Bengali language. 

Sprite India's note in Bengali read: “We deeply regret our recent Bengali ad campaign for Sprite and are withdrawing this unintentional mistake from the Bengali media immediately. Our company gives due respect to the Bengali language and takes pride in platforms like Coke Studio Bangla, which attaches great importance to the respect and prestige of our Bengal. We are committed to preserving respect and the heritage of the state through our service, new investments, CSR, and social consciousness”. 

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