Bengali-style Bihu ad by 'Big Bazaar' triggers netizens in Assam

GUWAHATI: Future Retail’s Big Bazaar's attempt to woo Assamese shoppers ahead of the mega festival Bihu has backfired brutally as a sizeable number of the population are viewing its latest Bihu-themed advert as an "attempt to distort" the state's culture.

The 20-second-long advert, which was uploaded on April 3, shows a family enjoying the festive time with their faces aglimmer with smiles -- probably because of the discounts offered by the retail chain.

Anyways, what triggered the audience is the ostensibly 'North Indian feel' to the video. In the clip, the traditional laru-pitha of the Bihu festival was nowhere to be seen -- instead, the family was shown munching on puri-sabzi.

https://www.facebook.com/BigBazaar/videos/497410311429555

The drums and cymbals associated with Bihu were also missing. What we get instead is a member of the 'family' strumming a 6-string guitar. Ouch!

Who eats luci-bhaji in Bihu!!🙄 Who wears salwar suits in Bihu!!🙄 Stop misleading people!! If u don't know what Bihu is, go get the knowledge.. Don't distort our culture with other cultures.. (sic), wrote one Facebook user, while another said, "Is this Assamese culture ????? Don't mix up Assamese with Bengali..First make your concept clear (sic)."

"Where is Bihu? Pitha & mekhla chadar ? Dhool is also replaced with guitar. This is not our Bihu. Stop Advertising, (sic)" another user fumed.

Some netizens were also seen complaining about the dated feel of the video. "Lol, what type of advertising this seems we are living in '90s," M S Zeeshan Zunaid said.

The controversial video has been captioned, "Begin the new year with joy and style. Let the ethnic vibes take over this Bihu with fbb's festive collection."

It is unclear whether the ad was originally shot for Bihu or simply re-hashed for Assam with a voiceover celebrating the state's Bihu.

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