A new video advertisement of Ola cabs sparked off a storm on social media with several people accusing it of being sexist portrayal of women. Following the outrage, the taxi aggregator pulled down the ad from their official YouTube channel.
We understand one of our TVCs has ended up hurting some sentiments. We've pulled it down. However, #OlaMicro continues to run at Rs.6/km.
— Ola (@Olacabs) April 23, 2016
The ad titled "Micro Stories: Too expensive to take GF out on a date?" shows a boy being forced by her girlfriend to stop at every shop in the market and buy things for her. The ad ends with the boy saying, Meri girlfriend chalti hai Rs 525 per km, but Ola Micro chalti hai sirf Rs 6 per km, (My girlfriend walks at Rs 525 per km but Ola Micro runs at just Rs 6 per km).
Several people came down heavily on the ad on Twitter calling it sexist and misogynistic. Some protesters even called for boycotting Ola services.
Hello @Olacabs your mindset is very clear to us .. in fact women should think twice before availing your services pic.twitter.com/wBN1YcGfk9
— shilpi tewari (@shilpitewari) April 23, 2016
.@Olacabs stooped to a new low by publishing this extremely sexist ad. Disgusting. Tag #Ola & ask them to remove it. https://t.co/HNYOPBElOS
— Feminism in India (@FeminismInIndia) April 22, 2016
.@Olacabs compares women (humans) to taxis. Says taxis are cheaper to afford. #JustAnotherDayInPatriarchy https://t.co/CmthKwICfQ
— Somya Gupta (@dr_somyagupta) April 22, 2016
