IKEA Gets Demanded By Outraged Hindus To Delete Ad Making Fun Of Yoga
Image via IKEA Australia
IKEA Australia and creative agency Che Proximity (CHEP) are faced with scorn after launching a campaign on “IKEA product poses.”
The seven-minute ad taught viewers basic yoga positions, but with names after IKEA items. The spot, unfortunately, did not sit well with a Hindu group, who felt that IKEA was commercially exploiting the practice.
US-based group Universal Society of Hinduism believes that IKEA was misusing images from the religion. Rajan Zed, spokesperson for the group, said in a statement that the ad was “highly inappropriate” as it “unnecessarily trivialized” the discipline of yoga. IKEA, for instance, compared a yoga pose to a Martini glass, which, according to Zed, was “out of line.”
Using Hindu traditions and concepts inappropriately for commercial purposes would hurt Hindu devotees as well, Zed added. “Yoga is considered union with God, one of the six systems of Hindu philosophy, and mean for transforming consciousness and purification of the Self and attaining liberation,” he explained.
Zed also pleaded for Ingka Group CEO Jesper Brodin and Inter IKEA Group CEO Torbjorn Loof to issue a formal apology to Hindus and adhere to IKEA’s vision of creating a “better everyday life for the many people.”
[via B&T, cover image via IKEA Australia]
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