Why Vim Black, Dishwashing Liquid For Men, Is Courting Controversy & Confusion

Vim has since clarified that the ad was meant to be a joke on how products catered to men are sold and marketed.

Vim Black, Dishwashing Liquid For Men

(Image Courtesy: Twitter; Altered by The Quint)

In news of what keeps netizens buzzing on social media, Hindustan Unilever Ltd.’s cleaning supplies brand, Vim is courting a lot of controversy in light of their recent advertisement. While many were perplexed at the ad and called the brand out for enforcing gender roles, others wondered if it was a parody. 

But, what’s the ad about? On Friday (9 December), MTVIndia took to Instagram to share the video advertisement. Featuring actor-model Milind Soman, the ad begins with a man at the gym, bragging about doing the dishes to help out his mother. 

That’s when Soman enters, sarcastically praising him for boasting and offering Vim Black. The tagline says, “Vim Black for men, easy to clean, more to brag”.

Why the backlash? As soon as the advertisement was out for public viewing, Desi Twitter was flooded with screenshots, jokes and varied reactions. 

While some identified the ad as a joke or social commentary on how cis-hetero men expect to be put on a pedestal for accomplishing menial domestic chores, others wondered whether Vim was reiterating gender stereotypes by selling the identical product but in black - seemingly to attract the male demographic. 

Here’s what netizens said:

How Vim reacted: Irrespective of the intention behind the ad, the impact was clearly misdirected. The bizarre campaign courted so much confusion and controversy that Vim had to formally come out with a clarification.

On Sunday (11 December), Vim took to social media to clarify that the ad was in fact, a parody. In an open letter to men, the brand underlined how the ad was solely created to urge men to let go of their excuses and take up equal responsibility for domestic chores.

Check their response here:

To support their clarification, they also shared another Instagram post, highlighting that men should earn no bragging rights for doing the bare minimum.

A better example from 2020: This is not the first time Vim has attempted to call out the stark gender imbalance in household duties. They have put out several advertisements in the past, encouraging men to take up more domestic responsibilities - instead of expecting their female counterparts to pick up the slack.

Featuring cricketer Virender Sehwag, this 2020 advertisement was hailed for positive male representation in a domestic framework. Showing Sehwag doing dishes - with a cricket match commentary on his performance playing in the background - brought the point home that men should be able to balance both personal and professional duties; exactly how 21st century women are expected to function.