By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE newest advertisement for Angostura Tamboo Spiced Rum has caused outrage in the Hindu community and a legal warning from the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS).
SDMS acting Secretary-General Vijay Maharaj, in a letter dated January 26, wrote to Angostura’s Corporate Communications Manager Judy Kanhai stating that the images on the advertisement closely resembled that of the Hindu deity Lord Krishna.
He wrote, “As you would no doubt appreciate, Hinduism is a very visually oriented religion, and depictions and iconography have a great personal impact on the psyche of the Hindu. At this juncture, we call for the immediate withdrawal of any/all videos/ advertisements which carry the images bearing resemblance to our Lord Krishna depicted with hands playing the flute.
Many images continue to be seen associated with your recent advertisements of the Angostura Tamboo Spiced Rum. Whilst we have seen some withdrawals of the images in the video ads, the images in question continue to feature prominently in the Angostura Facebook page.”
Maharaj continued, “Regardless of who operates this page, we expect a full withdrawal of these images else we will be taking further action against your Company.”
The SDMS was willing to be consulted on future depictions that may resemble themes in Hinduism so as to avoid further conflict, Maharaj stated.
The rum was launched last September in commemoration of Republic Day.
It is being advertised as “ Playful, vibrant and exotic. Inspired by the timeless Carnival spirit of Trinidad & Tobago. Named after the handmade bamboo instruments that created the soundtrack of Carnivals long past.”
The rum has also been endorsed by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts.
There remains one video ad on Angostura’s official Facebook page.
AZPNews.com attempted to contact Angostura Corporate Communications on the issue but attempts to get a response on Friday was unsuccessful.
