New Delhi: Shortly after the letter by Delhi Women Commission on Friday, the MIB has pulled up advertisement agencies and companies airing misogynistic and rape-promoting deodorant and body spray ads.

The centre has ordered the suspension of all such controversial deodorant ads and called for an enquiry as per the advertising code. In letters to Twitter and YouTube, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said that the videos were “detrimental to the portrayal of women in the interest of decency and morality” and in violation of Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code). It added that the Advertisement Standards Council of India too has found the videos in violation of its guidelines and asked the advertiser to suspend the advertisement on an immediate basis.

Netizens have been outraged by the ads. According to them, such ads sought to promote sexual violence against women. In the letter written by Maliwal, she demanded that a “misogynistic” advertisement being played on mass media be taken off air. She had sought urgent action by the ministry to ban the advertisement.