Brands

Layer’r Shot ‘apologises’ for offensive ads, invites further flak online

Published

4 years ago

June 7, 2022

Mumbai: Following a social media backlash over its controversial deo ads, and after being called out by the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) and the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the Layer’r Shot brand issued a clarification statement, including an apology on Monday.

The statement, however, judging by the responses it received on social media, appears to have done little to quell the outrage surrounding the brand’s films. If anything, it only seems to have fanned the flames of netizen’s outrage even further.

Here’s the statement from the brand:

pic.twitter.com/6LfpVcBXuV
— Layer’r Shot (@layerr_shot) June 6, 2022
Advertisement

The statement, while referencing the two recent advertisements from the brand on broadcasting platforms, informs everyone that the brand “aired the advertisements only after due and mandatory approvals.”

It further added that it never intended to “hurt anyone’s sentiments or feelings or outrage any women’s modesty or promote any sort of culture, as wrongly perceived by some.”

“However, we sincerely apologise for the advertisements that consequently caused rage amongst individuals & several communities and beg their pardon.” also read the letter, while adding that it has voluntarily informed all its media partners to stop the telecast/ broadcasting of both the TV advertisements from 4 June 2022.

It may be noted that on the same day (4 June), the MIB had written to social media platforms -Twitter and YouTube to remove all instances of the two “inappropriate & derogatory” ads with immediate effect. The TV channel on which it appeared had already pulled it down on its directions, the ministry had tweeted

The internet was scathing in its response to what several netizens termed as a poor and even fake attempt at apology. Most of the users took exception to the choice of words used in the apology, specifically the words “wrongly perceived” with regards to people’s perception of the offending ads.

It wasn’t wrongly perceived, wrote a user, continuing: “It was perceived exactly the way you meant it to be perceived. Don’t try to pretend like you weren’t demeaning women and implying sexual assault in your ads. It was your whole hook.”

It wasn’t wrongly perceived. It was perceived exactly the way you meant it to be perceived. Don’t try to pretend like you weren’t demeaning women and implying sexual assault in your ads. It was your whole hook.
— Debasmita (@HitchhikerQ) June 6, 2022
Advertisement

Not wrongly perceived. What was the story, and what was the implied meaning? Why did the female lead expression change? Pls can you reveal.. @layerr_shot so we can be sure that it was wrongly perceived.

Not wrongly perceived.
What was the story, what was the implied meaning?why the female lead experssion changed?? .pls can you reveal..@layerr_shot so we can be sure that it was wrongly perceived.
— Sunbird (@sagarika2308) June 6, 2022
Advertisement

Another user-determined: “This is not an apology. You know what you did. You know why you did it.”

Yet another fumed at the alleged audacity of the brand to term the public’s response as wrongly perceived, further adding: It’s also kinda sickening that it went through several people who found it to be okay.

A Twitterati called out the brand’s marketing department and corporate communication team, stating that they ought to be “case studies on how to spend money to earn infamy.”

Accusing the brand to be still in denial of its wrongdoing, an apology with a comment of how the viewers “Wrongly perceived it.. Is not an apology.” And another added, “You need to apologise for this apology too!”

“Pretty bad ad. The agency partners, brand team, approval team and conceptualization teams, are all at fault. A fake apology like this won’t help!” schooled another user.

Pretty bad ad. The agency partners, brand team, approval team and the conceptualization teams, all at fault. A Fake Apology like this wont help!
— Tottology | Toshal (@Tottology) June 6, 2022

Another netizen was outraged against the brand for its attempt to blame the audience. “This reflects on the toxicity of the unevolved brains behind this ad. They are blaming the audience. Every script has an insight behind it; the girls’ disgusted face (reaction) when the group of boys say those uncouth words is a clear indication that u knew!,” she wrote.

Some were severe in their indictment of the brand’s attempt at clarification, writing: Really? This is an apology? Didn’t the story in the advertisement cause rage among people in the meeting room when the advertisement was pitched. The ad has gangrape culture on full display and your product henceforth will smell like rape on the users. Shut it down.

Really? This is an apology? Didn’t the story in advertisement cause rage among people in the meeting room when the advertisement was pitched. The ad clearly has gangrape culture on full display and your product henceforth will smell like a rape on the users. Shut it down.
— Abhishek Bhalerao (@mumbaiactor_) June 6, 2022
Advertisement

For the unversed, the outrage is against two recent ads promoting the Layer’r Shot brand’s deo. The ads can be viewed here:

Can’t find the ad online but here it is, apparently being played during the match. I didn’t see it till @hitchwriter showed it to me
Who are the people making these ads really? pic.twitter.com/zhXEaMqR3Q
Advertisement

— Permanently Exhausted Pigeon (@monikamanchanda) June 3, 2022

The first one of the offending ads features a couple getting intimate in a bedroom. Four of the guy’s friends barge into the room, sneering at the couple and asking a seemingly loaded and crude question. After a few moments of suspense, wherein the girl is seen visibly getting alarmed at what the guys’ true intentions are, the ad reveals that the friends were simply asking if they can use the Shot deo kept in the room!

How does this kind of ads get approved, sick and outright disgusting. Is @layerr_shot full of perverts? Second ad with such disgusting content from Shot.@monikamanchanda pic.twitter.com/hMEaJZcdmR
— Rishita (@RishitaPrusty_) June 3, 2022

The second ad plays out along similar lines, where the four men are showcased indulging in an animated conversation at a supermarket. A woman is shown in the forefront, while they discuss who will take the “shot” since there are four of them and just one of “it”. Again, the ad plays on the fear factor of the woman, as she looks back in alarm at the four men, only to find that they are talking about the single bottle of the Shot deo left in the store, while the ad makes it look as if they are talking about the woman.

Earlier, while referencing the action taken on the ads, ASCI CEO & secretary general Manisha Kapoor told Indian Television that: “An ad goes through many layers of discussions and approvals, and it is very disappointing that such ads were not weeded out.”

Everyone in the ecosystem has a role to play, including the advertiser, agency, production partners, and endorsers, she further added.

The ads, however Kapoor clarified, are not conceptualised by Triton Communications as several publications wrongly stated initially. In fact, the advertisements are an in-house creation.

The ministerial action came after several netizens flagged the offensive video commercials, accusing them of promoting rape culture and trivialising sexual violence against women, and being plain creepy.

The advertising self-regulatory body, ASCI also suspended the ads after finding them to be in serious breach of its code and against the public interest.

Related Topics:advertising ASCI commercial deo ad LAYER’R Shot MIB SONY TEN Twitter YouTube

Up Next

Minimum followers on Instagram to get paid in India

Don't Miss

There is a high demand for scripted content on OTT platforms currently: Sameer Gogate

Click to comment

Brands

Netflix India names Rekha Rane director of films and series marketing

Streaming giant bets on a seasoned marketer who helped build Amazon and Netflix into household names

Published

1 week ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Netflix has put a proven brand builder at the helm of its films and series marketing in India, naming Rekha Rane as director in a move that signals sharper focus on audience growth and cultural cut-through in one of its most hotly contested markets.

Rane steps into the role after seven years at Netflix, where she has quietly shaped how the platform sells stories to India. Her latest promotion, effective February 2026, crowns a run that spans brand, slate and product marketing across originals, licensed content and new verticals such as games.

A strategic marketing and communications professional with roughly 15 years’ experience, Rane has spent much of her career building technology-led consumer businesses and new categories, notably e-commerce and subscription video on demand. She was part of the early push that introduced Amazon.in, Prime Video and Netflix to Indian homes, then helped turn them into everyday brands.

At Netflix, she most recently served as head of brand and slate marketing for India from March 2024 to February 2026, leading teams across media and marketing for global and local content portfolios. Before that, as manager for original films and series marketing, she led IP creation and go-to-market strategy for titles including Guns and Gulaabs, Kaala Paani, The Railway Men* and The Great Indian Kapil Show, spanning both binge and weekly-release formats.

Her earlier Netflix roles covered product discovery and promotion in India and integrated campaign strategy to drive conversations around the content slate, product awareness and brand-equity metrics.

Before Netflix, Rane logged more than three years at Amazon in brand marketing roles in Bengaluru. There she handled national and regional campaigns for Amazon.in, worked on customer assistance programmes in growth geographies and contributed to the go-to-market strategy for the launch of Prime Video India.

Her career began well away from streaming. At Reliance Brands in Mumbai, she worked on retail marketing for Diesel and Superdry. A stint at Leo Burnett saw her work on primary research for P&G Tide, mapping Indian shoppers’ paths to purchase. Earlier still, at Orange in the United Kingdom, she rose from sales assistant to store manager, running a team and owning monthly P&L for a retail outlet.

The arc is telling. As global streamers fight for attention in a crowded Indian market, executives who understand both mass retail behaviour and digital habit-building are prized. Rane’s career sits at that intersection.

For Netflix, the bet is simple: in a market spoilt for choice, sharp marketing can still tilt the screen. And with Rane now leading the charge, the streamer is signalling it wants not just viewers, but fandom.

Brands

Orient Beverages pops the fizz with steady Q3 gains and rising profits

Kolkata-based beverage maker reports stronger revenues and profits for December quarter.

Published

1 week ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: A fizzy quarter with a steady aftertaste that’s how Orient Beverages Limited, the company that manufactures and distributes packaged drinking water under the brand name Bisleri closed the December 2025 period, as the Kolkata-based drinks maker reported improved revenues and a healthy rise in profits, signalling operational stability in a competitive beverage market.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, Orient Beverages posted standalone revenue from operations of Rs 39.98 crore, up from Rs 36.42 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 33.53 crore in the same quarter last year. Total income for the quarter stood at Rs 42.24 crore, reflecting consistent demand and stable pricing across its beverage portfolio.

Profit before tax for the quarter came in at Rs 3.47 crore, a sharp improvement from Rs 1.31 crore in the September quarter and Rs 0.39 crore a year ago. After accounting for tax expenses of Rs 0.79 crore, the company reported a net profit of Rs 2.68 crore, nearly three times the Rs 0.99 crore recorded in the preceding quarter.

On a nine-month basis, the momentum remained intact. Revenue from operations for the period ended December 31, 2025 rose to Rs 117.66 crore, compared with Rs 106.95 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net profit for the nine months climbed to Rs 5.51 crore, more than double the Rs 2.18 crore reported in the same period of the previous financial year.

The consolidated numbers told a similar story. For the December quarter, consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 45.06 crore, while profit after tax came in at Rs 2.06 crore. For the nine-month period, consolidated revenue touched Rs 133.57 crore, with net profit of Rs 4.49 crore, underscoring the group’s improving profitability trajectory.

Operating expenses remained largely controlled, with cost of materials, employee benefits and other expenses broadly aligned with revenue growth. The company continued to operate within a single reportable segment beverages simplifying its cost structure and reporting framework.

The unaudited financial results were reviewed by the Audit Committee and approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting held on 7 February 2026. Statutory auditors carried out a limited review and reported no material misstatements in the results.

In a market where margins are often squeezed by input costs and competition, Orient Beverages’ latest numbers suggest the company has found a reliable rhythm not explosive, but steady enough to keep the fizz alive.

Brands

BCCL profit jumps 53 per cent in FY25 as tax bill shrinks

Revenue rises 4.3 per cent to Rs 10,209.33 crore while deferred tax gain lifts bottom line sharply

Published

1 week ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

NEW DELHI: Bennett, Coleman and Company (BCCL) has posted a sparkling set of financial results for the year ended 31 March 2025, proving that there is still plenty of ink and gold left in the ledger.

Revenue from operations climbed a steady 4.3 per cent, reaching Rs 10,209.33 crore compared to Rs 9,786.44 crore the previous year. When you sprinkle in other income, which rose 8.9 per cent to Rs 949.36 crore, the total income for the media behemoth hit a healthy Rs 11,158.69 crore.

While the income grew at a modest pace, the bottom line tells a far more dramatic story. The real headline is the 53 per cent surge in annual profit. How did they pull off such a feat? While Profit Before Tax (PBT) saw a gentle nudge upward of 2.7 per cent to Rs 1,610.00 crore, it was a vanishing act by the taxman that really did the trick.

Total tax expenses plummeted by 32.4 per cent, dropping from Rs 468.76 crore down to Rs 316.97 crore. This was largely thanks to a swing in deferred tax, moving from an expense of Rs 156.02 crore in FY24 to a benefit of Rs 39.44 crore this year.

Total income rose from Rs 10,658.55 crore in FY24 to Rs 11,158.69 crore in FY25, marking a 4.7 per cent increase. Total expenses grew at a slower pace, up 3.0 per cent from Rs 9,306.06 crore to Rs 9,581.45 crore. Profit before tax inched up 2.7 per cent, moving from Rs 1,567.02 crore to Rs 1,610.00 crore. However, the standout figure was net profit, which jumped sharply by 53.0 per cent, climbing from Rs 1,042.03 crore in FY24 to Rs 1,594.73 crore in FY25.

Despite the rising costs of doing business across the globe, BCCL kept a tight grip on the purse strings. Total expenses rose by just 3.0 per cent to Rs 9,581.45 crore. By keeping costs lower than the rate of income growth, the company ensured that the final figure, a net profit of Rs 1,594.73 crore, was nothing short of a front-page sensation.

In a world of shifting digital tides, it seems the BCCL ship is not just steady, but sailing into significantly wealthier waters.