The apology goes against the standard disclaimer issued by ‘Indian Express’ which impresses upon advertisers that the paper ‘shall in no way be responsible for advertisement or its content.’
New Delhi: After participants on social media claimed that a front-page ad from the Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh was among its three key images, a flyby in Kolkata, the Indian Express – where the ad was broadcast – ended up apologizing for the selection of images.
Such an excuse by a newspaper for an image in an advertisement is rare, as the content of an advertisement is provided by the advertiser.
The Adityanath government ran a three-page advertisement on the front pages of The Sunday Express, the Indian Express weekend newspaper, on September 12. While the pages inside contained allegations about various government policies, the front page features a cutout photo of Chief Minister Adityanath, engineers at a factory, and what appears to be the Maa Flyover in the east from Kolkata.
Hawk-eyed readers pointed out that the bridge had the iconic yellow taxi which is salient to Kolkata and was thus a giveaway.
Claims have also been made on social media that the factory pictured is one in the United States.
However, the Kolkata flyby goof-up was the most successful – largely because congressional leaders from Trinamool, which is in power in West Bengal and opposes the Bharatiya Janata Party – approached the issue with enthusiasm.
Sanjay Singh who heads the Uttar Pradesh wing of the Aam Aadmi Party, which is also opposed to the BJP, took to Twitter as well.
A large section of Twitter saw in the incident the potential for a meme-fest.