A few days ago Indian jewelry brand Kalyan Jewellers published an advertisement featuring brand ambassador Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

In the ad Aishwarya, draped with opulent jewels and dressed like royalty, can be seen reclining in front of a small child clearly outfitted as a serf or slave.

The infamous ad. — Photo: Scroll.in

Backlash quickly followed. In an open letter to Aishwarya in Scroll.in, a group of activists condemned the ad and asked the actress for a public retraction. The letter stated that the ad was not only glorifying child labour but was also openly racist. The letter said:

"Further, the extremely fair colour of your skin (as projected in the advertisement) contrasted with the black skin of the slave-boy is obviously a deliberate "creative" juxtaposition by the advertising agency, and insidiously racist."

Aishwarya wasted no time in responding to this challenge. However, in a statement issued by a publicist she denied having any role in how the final image for the ad was going to be presented.

Addressing the authors of the open letter, the publicist stated:

"On the onset we would like to thank you on drawing our attention to the observation of the perception of the advertisement. Here is an attachment of the shot taken by somebody during the shoot. The final layout of the ad is entirely the prerogative of the creative team for a brand. However shall forward your article as a viewpoint that can be taken into consideration by the creative team of professional working on the brand visual communication."

This was supplemented by an image of the original image that was used as the basis for this ad, where a child is nowhere to be seen. Clearly, the buck was passed to Kalyan Jewellers.

The original image, as per Aishwarya's publicist.

For its part, Kalyan Jewellers issued a statement via Facebook which was evasive even as it stated that the jewelers would withdraw the ad. It said: "The creative was intended to present the royalty, timeless beauty and elegance. However, if we have inadvertently hurt the sentiments of any individual or organisation, we deeply regret the same. We have started the process of withdrawing this creative from our campaign."

This wasn't enough for most people, as social media continued to roil with anger over the advertisement, raising questions about the extent to which celebrities should be held responsible for the products they endorse.