Ekatvam: the interfaith baby shower

Read the campaign story

A jewellery collection can carry a cultural idea as well as a design vocabulary. Tanishq’s Ekatvam film made togetherness concrete through a family preparing a baby shower across religious traditions. Released in October 2020, the story centred a Hindu daughter-in-law and her Muslim family. The product context was a collection whose name referred to oneness; the family’s effort supplied a human expression of that proposition.

The film was withdrawn after hostile online reactions. Contemporary reporting reproduced the company’s explanation that the intended celebration of unity had produced severe divergent responses and that employees, partners and store staff were part of its decision. Supportive reactions were also reported. This was not a simple story of universal audience rejection, nor does a social-media hashtag establish the views of the whole customer base.

The creative mechanism was an everyday ritual carrying a larger belief. Rather than explain pluralism in a manifesto, the story showed relatives making room for someone else’s customs. Jewellery belongs naturally to family ceremonies, giving the brand a credible setting. The strategic risk lay in the gap between a short fictional scene and the larger political interpretations people could attach to it once it circulated outside the planned audience.

For a small organisation, the transferable lesson is preparation rather than provocation. Before expressing a social value, agree how that value connects to the product, how affected communities are represented, and how staff will be supported if reactions become hostile. Scenario planning should include the shop floor and customer-service team, not just the communications lead. A response plan is part of the campaign, not an emergency appendix.

No sales effect is established by these sources. Withdrawal is a documented operational outcome, but neither withdrawal nor controversy proves that the creative premise was commercially wrong. This case is most useful for studying the responsibilities around values-led communication: the story, the organisation’s ability to stand behind it, and the practical safety of the people who may receive the reaction must be considered together.

Connect belief to context

Choose a setting where the product and the value naturally meet.

Prepare the organisation

Plan staff support and response ownership before release.

Separate noise from evidence

Do not treat a trending reaction as a representative customer survey.

A small test for another brief

Review a proposed values-led story with relevant community readers before release.

Clarity, representation concerns and readiness to answer foreseeable questions.

Do not proceed if the organisation cannot support those exposed to the response.

• Identify the specific value and its product connection.
• Invite compensated, voluntary feedback from people represented.
• Rehearse a response plan with customer-facing staff.