Nestle withdraws KitKat chocolate wrappers featuring Hindu deities after outrage
Nestle have confirmed that it has withdrawn a special range of its KitKat chocolate bar
wrappers featuring Hindu Gods following accusations of hurting Hindu religious sentiments.
Nestle had recently released a limited range of chocolate wrappers globally which had
photos of artwork of Hindu Gods and Goddesses.
The Indian version of the wrapper had images of Hindu deities Jagannath, Balabhadra and
Subhadra to celebrate the crafts of the Indian state of Odisha.
However, the idea of putting Hindu deities on wrappers didn’t sit well with Indians, as many
criticized that the cover might end up in “dustbins, drains, gutters”, which would be
disrespectful of the Hindu gods and the Hindu faith.
Nestle said the intention had been to “celebrate the culture of Odisha with designs on packs
representing ‘Pattachitra’, an art form uniquely identifiable by its vivid imagery”. The
original ‘Pattachitra’ artwork however feature on items that are showcased and respected
for the images they carry, not on wrappers that can be discarded and disrespected as
described above.
After the protest and outcry by Hindus Nestle has said that it had now recalled the KitKat
range from the market.
“We wanted to encourage people to know about the art and its artisans. We do understand
the sensitivity of the matter and regret if we have inadvertently hurt people’s sentiments,”
the company said in a statement.
The above statement by a large multinational firm is typical of the western mentality of
taking Hindu religious sentiments for granted and trying to influence the younger Hindu
generation into thinking that such products/acts are fine.
As stated by the Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism Bhagavan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam in
his discourse dated 18th Jan 2022 (https://nithyanandapedia.org/wiki/January_18_2022) :
“crony capitalism in the field of pharma, food, is not only extremely dangerous, it is causing
irreversible damage to human minds. physically, mentally, psychologically, emotionally, we
are leaving the worst kind of body and mind structure for our next generation”
It is therefore up to us Hindus to become responsible and be on the lookout for such acts of
irresponsibility by Multinationals, western media, etc no matter how minor they may seem.
