'Racist' ad starring Aishwarya Rai withdrawn

Following the online furore over the 'racist' advertisement featuring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan with a child, the jewellery company has now decided to withdraw the campaign.

The 41-year-old actress, who is the National brand ambassador for Kalyan Jewellers, had faced the wrath of activists after the print advertisement was published in a leading daily.

An an open letter addressed to the former beauty queen slammed her involvement in the ad which also promoted child labour. It prompted Aishwarya to release a statement saying the creative team for the brand was responsible for the change.

Meanwhile, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's publicist has said in a statement that Rai Bachchan had no creative say in the final product of the ad and the ad's offending elements were edited into the image after the actress's involvement ended.

The company has now apologised for hurting the sentiments of people and has began the process to withdraw the campaign. "The creative was intended to present the royalty, timeless beauty and elegance. However, if we have inadvertently hurt the sentiments of any individual or organisation, we deeply regret the same.

"We have started the process of withdrawing this creative from our campaign," Kalyan Jewellers said via their Facebook page.