America Hindus Against Defamation Press Release
Hindus Enraged at Kohler Company for Image of Lord Nataraja as Scantly Clad Woman Hawking Shower Fixture
Kohler, one of the most prominent plumbing supply companies is using Lord Nataraja (a form of Lord Shiva) in the form of a scantly clad woman and taking a shower to hawk its new shower products.
The image in the Kohler advertisement appeared in The New York Times on Sunday. Oct 13, 2002. This image is unmistakably that of Lord Shiva as Nataraja. The dancing pose, multiple hands, the hand gestures, the metaphor of water from shower too, resembles the flow of river Ganga (Ganges) usually depicted as flowing through Lord Shiva.
The tag line for the advertisement “There is a Goddess”, clearly indicates that the advertisement is no coincidence, it is an unequivocal indication that the image of Lord Shiva was distorted and adopted for the advertisement purpose.
AHAD is disgusted by the abuse of the image of Lord Shiva in such a derogatory manner. Just as the scantly clad image of Christ in shower selling shower fixtures would be offensive and evoke strong resentment in the Christian community, this advertisement image has enraged the Hindu community. Hindu deities are worshipped, they are not exotic images to be distorted, mutilated and abused.
The Kohler Company’s insensitivity towards Hindus has been compounded by the fact that several calls placed to the PR department of the company by AHAD have gone unanswered.
AHAD demands that the Kohler Company immediately withdraw all the advertisements with Hindu images, and tender a sincere apology to the Hindu community.
AHAD reminds the Kohler Company that Lord Shiva is revered by Hindus around the world – major Shiva temples are found in India, Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, UK, USA and many other countries – and these countries, Kohler has significant commercial interest.
AHAD requests the Hindu community to visit the AHAD web site and sign the protest book at http://www.hindunet.org/ahad/kohler/
AHAD has taken a lead role in countering the abuse of Hindu images by major corporation and media. AHAD led successful action of the Hindu community and procured apologies from Sony/Aerosmith, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, Fortune Dynamics, Sittin Pretty Designs and others for abusing Hindu images and symbols.
American Hindus Against Defamation is a coalition of major Hindu organizations in North America. It is sponsored by World Hindu Council of America (VHP-A). For more information about AHAD, please contact Ajay Shah ahad@hindunet.org, Chetan Tanna chetan@pacbell.net or Pratap More sriraam@worldnet.att.net