Forgiven

Public relations is sometimes not quite public relations in the sense that something positive results. Advertising on the other hand, is another matter entirely. In advertising it is notice and notice alone that is held to be valuable. Whether that notice is of a positive or a negative nature, it creates a stir, and the person or the product is being noticed.

If opprobrium results because some view the advertising as offensive, it automatically becomes desirable to others.

At the very least, it establishes a reputation for the purveyor or the manufacturer or the individual who has a brand to sell. If, during the process, some segments of society are offended, it seems to matter little to those who have something to sell. Notoriety sells as well as modest approval of a product, appealing to the instincts of people to possess an item that is controversial in nature.

Hindus represent a large portion of religious society in a populous country like India. And while some Hindus more secular than fundamentalist such as those who protested over an Australian swim suit manufacturer taking the portraiture and holy stature of a Hindu goddess in vain by printing it upon the fabric used for scanty women's swimming apparel might overlook the infringement, the rigidly faithful would not.

As it is the Universal Society of Hinduism has demanded an apology from the designer of the fabric who used photographs of Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of light, fertility and prosperity jauntily positioned on the front and backside of bikinis in a Sydney fashion show to make a showy splash, worn by very well-proportioned, nubile Indian models.

"Lakshmi was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines, and not for pushing swimwear in fashion shows for the mercantile greed of an apparel company", explained Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism. In the best of all possible worlds, there would be no insults or offence offered to people for any reason, let alone blasphemous ones like commerce taking advantage of irresistible opportunities.

But this is not the best of all possible words; it is the world we live in, with all its faults and fallibilities given to human beings. The Australian fashion house has apologized. Hindus did not riot violently over the offence, causing death and destruction in their wake. For Lakshmi is not Mohammad and Hindus are not Muslims.

The Australian fashion house got what it set out to do; create a buzz. "We apologize to the Hindu community and take this matter very seriously, the designer of the label wrote in social media sites.