A video ad by Meat and Livestock Australia has been referred to Australia’s advertising watchdog for being “highly offensive”. The Advertising Standards Bureau has received over 20 complaints by Wednesday morning and more complaints still coming in.

Among those complaining against the ad is Shadow Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland who says the campaign is particularly distasteful due to the approaching Diwali- the biggest festival of the Hindu community.

Ms. Rowland said albeit Hinduism is a fast growing religion in Australia, it’s still just under 2 per cent of the total population of Australia. She said a great care must be taken in representing the Hindu religion in advertising.

“By depicting Ganesha as consuming lamb, the advertisement may give unfair or less favourable treatment to Hindu Australians, by suggesting that Ganesha and/or Hindu Australians eat meat and do not take religious observances seriously,” Ms. Rowland said in a statement.

“The advertisement may humiliate Hindu Australians or expose them to ridicule in social situations – particularly if they do not eat meat.”

A video campaign to promote lamb meat released on Monday featured Hindu deity Ganesha eating meat and sipping wine sitting around a table with other gods and goddesses and prophets of different faiths. The ad sparked widespread outrage among the Hindu community in Australia and overseas, prompting calls for an apology and taking down the ad campaign.

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Meat and Livestock Australia said the ad was not meant to offend anyone.

"The campaign features gods, prophets, and deities from across a wide range of religions alongside atheism, in a clearly fantastic nature, with the intent of being as inclusive as possible. To achieve this we undertook extensive research and consultation, MLA's Group Marketing Manager Andrew Howie told SBS Punjabi.

“Our intent is never to offend, but rather acknowledge that Lamb is a meat consumed by a wide variety of cultures and capture how the world could look if people left their differing views at the door and came to the table with open arms, and minds."

Several members of Victoria’s Hindu community are meeting on Wednesday to discuss the issue.

“The primary agenda is to get this offensive ad removed and getting MLA to apologise to the Hindu community,” Karthik Arasu- a Point Cook resident told SBS Punjabi. “We will also discuss the further course of action in case we have to approach the courts.”

"We strongly urge MLA to withdraw the offensive ad immediately and extend an unconditional apology to not only the Hindu-Australian but to members of all religious groups that are hurt by this nonsensical ad," the Hindu Council of Australia said in a statement.

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