Has merchandising gone too far?
Popular e-commerce site Amazon is somewhat in trouble after people discovered they were selling doormats with images of Hindu Gods on them.
Very shocking to c @amazon openly insulting Hinduism.Time to teach them a big lesson.#BoycottAmazon #UninstallAmazon pic.twitter.com/GaEmYxLl7W
— Badri #Mission265UP (@techie_badri) June 4, 2016
Turns out it wasn’t just one product, but lots of them.
@amazon How can you sell door mats with religious icons of Hindus?Remove them immediately @amazonIN #BoycottAmazon pic.twitter.com/ko2XKYvzYO
— Sourish Mukherjee (@sourishVHP) June 4, 2016
Even Ravindra Jadeja’s parody account tweeted about it, after which the news spread even further.
#BoycottAmazon For Hurting Hindu Sentiments By Selling Door Mats Featuring Hindu Goddess Laxmi. RT & Spread! pic.twitter.com/SHsg2lVcEg
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) June 4, 2016
Turns out, the retailer, Rock Bull, was not selling doormats with Hindu gods on them. They also had a Jesus Christ doormat.
Some people on Twitter were so angry at Amazon for selling these products on the site, they got the hashtag #BoycottAmazon trending for a few hours. So much for ‘any publicity is good publicity.’
#BoycottAmazon No Party No Organization Suppourts Hindus till date=FACT✔😡Dats Y Amazon🐖can proudly insult Hindus😡 pic.twitter.com/JgH3vxVTFo
— GAGAN ⚡SKY⚡ (@blue21sky) June 4, 2016
Amazon is in a dicey place because it’s not the direct seller but just the platform on which this particular retailer Rock Bull sells its line of products. And if you look at the kind of products it sells, you’d see that they’re a mere merchandising chain that cashes in on things like religiously themed phone cases, mouse pads, etc. Why they decided to extend that to doormats, is something only they can answer.