Brewery apologises after Hindu imagery sparks controversy
A Scottish brewery has apologised and promised to rebrand one of its beers after a prominent Hindu campaigner criticised its “very disrespectful” use of an image of Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of prosperity and wisdom.
Tempest Brewing Co’s range includes a beer known as India Pils, which features an illustration of the revered Hindu God on the label.
On its website, the Galashiels-based firm encourages its customers to “channel your inner Ganesha and overcome all obstacles with our hoppy pilsner.”
“With a crisp, fruity hop flavour and great drinkability, you’ll be at peace in no time,” it states, before adding, “Namaste!”, a Hindu greeting.
However, the label and the marketing campaign stoked the ire of Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, who said it was “highly inappropriate.”
Mr Zed, who gave the first official offering of a Hindu prayer at the US Senate, said: that “inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts or symbols for commercial or other agenda was not OK as it hurt the devotees.”
He explained: “Lord Ganesha is highly revered in Hinduism and is meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines, not to be used in selling beer for mercantile greed.”
Gavin Meiklejohn, founder and director of Tempest Brewing Co, said it had not intended to cause offence and offered its apologies to Mr Zed and the wider Hindu community.
He said: “We would like to assure those who are offended and upset that our artwork was not intended to cause offence and was chosen for its stand out colours.”
Mr Meiklejohn pointed out that Ganesha has been used in marketing and advertising campaigns by major companies including Mercedes and Renault, and the Borders firm “did not think there would be an issue”.
He explained: “As we were not coming at this from the direction of a religious concept, we genuinely didn’t feel that we were straying into muddy waters and took this route in all innocence.”
Mr Meiklejohn said the artwork of India Pils, one of the firm’s most popular beers, would be altered, with all written references to Ganesha removed from its marketing material. He added: “We would be eager to enter in to a dialogue with Rajan Zed to get to know and understand the Universal Society of Hinduism side of the story.”
mmclaughlin@scotsman.com