Bengaluru: A matrimony firm has apologised for its advertisement in a national daily that went viral on social media and triggered an online backlash. The matchmaking firm Young Achievers Matrimony on Wednesday advertised for a matrimony meet for “young achievers” and “high net worth families” on August 12.

In the advertisement, YAM invited “successful entrepreneurs, eminent professionals (!AS/IPS/IRS/scientists etc), youngsters graduated from top universities (IIT, IIM, CA), highly recognized young achievers, and beautiful girls”.

It is the last phrase that landed the firm in a controversy, as it equated “young achievers” with “beautiful girls”. The advertisement reportedly went viral soon after it appeared in the daily, with several people slamming the ad for being sexist and for its class bias, as it had asked for ultra-rich families to apply.

One of the organisers, Sreeram, said it was an “honest mistake”. “It was an honest mistake. Our intention was to show that the first few descriptions were for men and the last one alone for women. We will release another ad with the correction tomorrow,” Sreeram was quoted as saying by Times of India.

As promised by him, the YAM reportedly took out another ad in the same newspaper and apologised for the objectionable content. “I have withdrawn the ‘beautiful girls’ word. My intention was different but people have viewed it differently. I wanted more girls to come to the event, to encourage them to come forward.

I did not mean to give a description of physical appearances,” Sreeram was quoted as saying by News18. The newspaper too issued a note to its readers: “The language used in the advertisement was in poor taste. We are strengthening our internal advertisement copy vetting processes to ensure such incidents do not recur. We appreciate the candid feedback from our readers”.

SOURCE : http://www.bfirst.in/category/bengaluru/matrimony-firm-apologises-after-sexist-ad-goes-viral-504412