Akshay Kumar’s latest road safety ad faces backlashes for allegedly promoting dowry

Mumbai (Maharashtra): Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan already faced trouble for allegedly promoting dowry in the film. If that was not enough, the actor has landed himself in trouble yet again for his recent road safety ad. The ad showed Akshay as a police officer at a wedding where the father is sending off his daughter to her in-laws. As the bride sits in the car, Akshay comes to the father to tell him how better it would be if the car had six airbags instead of the two it already has. The convinced father then switches the car to a better version and sends his daughter off.

The ad indirectly normalised the long infamous tradition of dowry although it had the intention of hinting at the recent car crash of Tata Sons chairperson, Cyrus Mistry. Shiv Sena leader, Priyanka Chaturvedi slammed the ad while saying, “This is such a problematic advertisement. Who passes such creatives? Is the government spending money to promote the safety aspect of a car or promoting the evil& criminal act of dowry through this ad?”

6 एयरबैग वाले गाड़ी से सफर कर जिंदगी को सुरक्षित बनाएं।#राष्ट्रीय_सड़क_सुरक्षा_2022#National_Road_Safety_2022 @akshaykumar pic.twitter.com/5DAuahVIxE

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) September 9, 2022

Another Twitter user wrote, “This ad is the pits. Lost the plot completely. Is this about the wedding, the bride or that dowry should be 6 airbag car-what is it? These govt ads are so puerile and ill conceived. They couldn’t talk about safety any other way?”

A spokesperson for the Trinamool Congress, Saket Gokhale, said the government's official promotion of dowry was disheartening.

The advertisement was made in wake of the unfortunate death of the former chairperson of Tata Sons, Cyrus Mistry. The businessman passed away in a car accident due to the unavailability of enough airbags.