Maliban Biscuits, one of the leading confectionery
manufacturers in the country, has pulled an ‘offensive’ advertisement off air
after receiving a barrage of complaints particularly on social media networks
calling the advert offensive and derogatory.
The advert in question is for Maliban's 'White Chocolate Puff'. When The
Nation contacted the director of the commercial Udaya Dharmawardena, he cited
that he had no say over the script since the project was merely handed to him
by a PR agency. “We've come across worse adverts in the recent past, many
viewers do not even know the extent to which children are abused for the sake
of an advert, so this isn't particularly glaring.” Meanwhile, an official
attached to Maliban cited that when the advertisement had been sent to the
company for approval, they did not envision that it would cause such furor. “As
a company we didn't mean to offend or discriminate anyone, however seeing that
a lot of people have voiced concerns about it, we are pulling it off air.”
Meanwhile many have taken to the popular networking site Facebook to voice the
inane nature of the advertisement, with some saying that it ‘objectifies women
on the basis of their skin colour…appalled that this got through the censor
board’ Others have termed it as idiotic, offensive and even disgusting.
Statement by Maliban:-
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