UB sent notice over Dhoni advertisement

Harbhajan Singh's mother Avtar Kaur has sent a legal notice to the Vijay Mallya-owned United Breweries asking them to stop airing and apologise for an advertisement for one of their brands, McDowell's No. 1 soda. The notice says the advertisement mocks Harbhajan, his family and the Sikh community.

The advertisement in question features MS Dhoni and is apparently a spoof of a commercial for Royal Stag Mega Cricket, a brand of UB's rivals Pernod Ricard, in which Harbhajan appears. In the Royal Stag advertisement, Harbhajan is shown in various locations, including his father's ball-bearing factory, asking the question: "Have I made it large?"

In the McDowell's commercial, an actor wearing a turban, like Harbhajan does, asks the same question only to be slapped by his father for making ball bearings that are too big. The advertisement ends with Dhoni telling people to forget making things large and instead do something different.

The notice sent to the UB Group demanded the company publicly apologise for the advertisement "through widely-read newspapers as well as television channels prominently" apart from removing the advertisement within three days of receiving the notice. "My client is serving you with the instant notice to give you an opportunity to accept your mistake and make amends," the notice, signed by lawyer Shyam Dewani, said.

"Failing this, we will have no other alternative than to take appropriate legal action including that of filing proceedings for defamation, damages and all such civil as well as criminal actions." The notice also seeks a compensation of Rs 100,000 to the cricketer's family towards the cost of the notice.

Avtar Kaur also took offence to Dhoni's role in the commercial and said these kinds of advertisements bring "disunity and friction" in the India team and can be termed anti-national.

However, Harbhajan's representatives Offspin Sports Events and Entertainment insisted that the advertisement had not cause any friction between the two players. "Harbhajan has been totally kept out of this and his friendship with MS Dhoni has not been impacted in any way," Sangeet Shirodkar, director of Offspin Sports, said.