Since FabIndia decided to go all ‘Jashn-e-PairPeKulhari’ with the Diwali campaign ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’, netizens are digging the history and geography of the company to understand who is the mastermind behind the “Not so Sanatani” campaign for 100% Sanatani festival Diwali. Thanks to a Twitter user Harshil Mehta, one finger points towards the Zeno Group India, which was hired by FabIndia as Digital Partners back in 2019.
https://twitter.com/MehHarshil/status/1450649054724034563?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwIn January 2020, Rekha Rao joined the company as Managing Director for India operations.
But why this information is important? To understand its relevance, first, it is essential to know what Zeno Group was supposed to do for FabIndia. According to a report published in Exchange4Media, Zeno Group was supposed to lead the brand strategy, content development and oversee the management and execution of digital media for FabIndia.
As there is no more information available if any other agency got a contract for managing the digital presence of FabIndia, it is safe to assume that Zeno Group is still managing it. Notably, in most such cases, large corporate like FabIndia has more than one ad agency, PR agencies or digital marketing agencies working for them. It might be the case for FabIndia as well, but so far, no other prominent names have popped up during a search over the internet.
Now coming back to Zeno Group’s Rekha Rao, she is also co-founder of Katha Kathan that promotes Urdu literature. Since its formation, Katha Kathan has organized several literally programs, including Jashn-e-Sahir, Jashn-e-Premchand, Jashn-e-Manto, Jashn-e-Ghalib and more. Anyway, there might be no connection at all between the Jashn-e-Riwaaz campaign and Rekha’s love for the word ‘Jashn-e-XYZ‘, but it’s a remarkable coincidence.
https://twitter.com/MehHarshil/status/1450649078342115328?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwMoreover, Rekha Rao has shown some Hinduphobic tendencies in her tweets. She has used ‘cow urine’ jibe, which criticizes PM Modi.
https://twitter.com/MehHarshil/status/1450649092187512835?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwShe has also pointed fingers at gau rakshaks on multiple occasions. Interestingly, a series of sarcastic tweets against Hindus can be found on her timeline. Married to a Muslim, she had once alleged she was unable to find a flat because of his husband’s religion.
In his husband’s bio, he calls himself ‘ardent promoter of Urdu, ’ which is written in the English language.
https://twitter.com/MehHarshil/status/1450649118565494789?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwThe controversy around FabIndia’s Diwali campaign
Recently, FabIndia had launched a campaign to promote its collection named “Jashn-e-Riwaaz”. The idea was to promote the ‘festival of lights with the name of the campaign. After the backlash over the internet, FabIndia removed the campaign from all social media platforms. In a statement, the company claimed that it was not about Diwali and their Diwali campaign Jhilmil Si Diwali was yet to launch. However, in the campaign tweet, they had categorically used the phrase “festival of lights”, which is another name for the Hindu festival Diwali.