GIVA Withdraws Raksha Bandhan Campaign Featuring Kriti Sanon After Social Media Backlash
Jewellery brand GIVA has removed its Raksha Bandhan campaign featuring actor Kriti Sanon from all media platforms following backlash over her outfit and a scene involving a rakhi tied to a dog. The company said the move was made out of respect for cultural sentiments.
What happened
Indian jewellery brand GIVA withdrew its Raksha Bandhan campaign featuring Kriti Sanon from all media platforms after social-media backlash over her outfit and
Why this matters
Potential partners should assess GIVA’s brand-governance processes and crisis-management capabilities before pursuing collaborations.
What to watch
- Persistence of negative hashtags, boycott calls, or high-reach creator criticism after the campaign takedown.
- Whether Kriti Sanon, GIVA, or influential cultural commentators issue further public statements.
- Raksha Bandhan search interest, web traffic, conversion rates, and marketplace ratings versus GIVA's normal festive baseline.
- Competitor campaigns shifting toward explicitly traditional messaging or referencing cultural respect.
- Reposting of the removed creative through news pages, meme accounts, or political/cultural commentary channels.
- Issue a concise clarification acknowledging sentiment without amplifying disputed creative details.
- Replace the withdrawn asset with product-led Raksha Bandhan content centered on sibling gifting, craftsmanship, and conventional festive cues.
- Conduct rapid social listening across Hindi and regional-language platforms to identify whether criticism is declining or moving into boycott narratives.
- Institute a pre-release cultural review process for religious, regional, and festival-linked campaigns.
- Brief retail staff, marketplace partners, and customer-service teams with a consistent response script.