No Indians allowed; Haagen Dazs says wrong choice of words

Ice cream major Haagen-Dazs probably did not realise that a sign that was meant to tempt the Capital’s crème de la crème to its premium international-quality’ ice-creams would instead land it in hot water.

A day before the US brand opened its first outlet in a south Delhi mall, it put up signboards around the area for a “preview for international travellers” with the telling rider, ‘Entry restricted only to holders of international passports’.

“An error was made in the creative execution,” Anindo Mukherji, MD of General Mills India, which markets the brand here, said, adding more precisely: “It was a wrong choice of words, and we regret the error.”

As there are no such things as ‘national’ passports — they are after all used only for international travel
— it was apparent that ‘international’ was used as another word for ‘foreign’. And since the booklet’s only use, once the holder clears an airport immigration counter, is as a proof of nationality, the clear implication was that only foreigners would be allowed for the ‘preview’. It was not, however, intended to be a case of reworking the old British sign, ‘Dogs and Indians not allowed’.

“No one was turned away because of nationality,” insisted Arindam Haldar, director, Haagen-Dazs. “I was present on all days. If people were refused entry momentarily, it was only due to overcrowding as there was a rush.” Obviously, Haagen-Dazs is here to tap the Indian market, not keep it out, but the words of the teaser campaign left the company vulnerable to the charge of apartheid. And it was compounded by the very poor choice of words by TBWA, the agency that did the teaser campaign.

Upon sustained queries to company officials about the intention of the campaign, it emerged that what Haagen-Dazs really wanted to convey was ‘Now get a taste of abroad right here in India’. But by preferring several long words — that are liable to be misinterpreted — instead of short, clear ones, they ended up generating a lot of heat: something that ice-cream brands, in particular, should steer clear of, if they don’t want their market to melt away, thanks to offended sensibilities. Especially, since it plans to open 30 to 40 outlets in the next few years.