Kriti Sanon’s Raksha Bandhan Ad Draws Criticism Over Festive Styling and Pet Rakhi Concept

THE CELEBRITY HOUR

Kriti Sanon’s latest Raksha Bandhan campaign for jewellery brand GIVA has attracted criticism on social media, with some users objecting to her contemporary festive outfit and others questioning a scene in which she ties a rakhi to a pet dog.

The campaign itself, however, was not designed simply as a conventional brother-sister Raksha Bandhan advertisement.

GIVA’s 2026 initiative is titled “Furever Sibling – The Pawfect Bond” and was created to extend the idea of sibling relationships to pets that are treated as members of the family. Trade coverage published when the campaign launched in July explains that the film first shows Kriti celebrating Raksha Bandhan with her brother before extending the ritual to their pet.

That context has largely been lost as clips from the advertisement circulate independently online.

The backlash is real in the limited sense that several identifiable social-media users have publicly criticised the campaign and multiple publications have documented those comments. But describing the reaction as a sweeping public “controversy” would overstate the available evidence. What can be established is a visible online disagreement over festive representation, clothing and the campaign’s attempt to broaden the traditional sibling idea.

What Happens in Kriti Sanon’s Raksha Bandhan Ad?

The campaign features Kriti in an off-white ensemble built around a bralette-style blouse, a flowing cape, and a draped skirt.

She participates in the Raksha Bandhan celebration with her brother and then ties a rakhi to the family dog as part of GIVA’s “Furever Sibling” concept.

The pet element is central to the brand’s campaign rather than an incidental joke.

According to coverage released when GIVA introduced the initiative on July 22, the jewellery company was simultaneously launching a Pet Collection, positioning the campaign around families that regard their pets as emotionally equivalent to siblings or other close relatives.

The marketing idea was therefore deliberately contemporary: take a familiar Raksha Bandhan ritual and expand its definition of family.

Why Are Some Users Criticizing Kriti’s Outfit?

Most of the criticism documented on August 22 and 23 focused on Kriti’s clothing.

Several users argued that the bralette-style blouse did not fit their idea of appropriate attire for a traditional family festival. Others complained about the apparent absence of familiar ceremonial elements such as a puja thali or tilak in the clips they were sharing.

One widely circulated post criticized the styling in explicitly familial terms, while another asked why the campaign portrayed Raksha Bandhan without the traditional ritual details the user expected.

Those reactions are verifiable because the posts themselves have been embedded and reproduced by published reports.

They should nevertheless be described as comments from specific social-media users, not as proof that audiences in general rejected the advertisement.

The Dog-Rakhi Scene Became a Second Flashpoint

The campaign’s pet element generated a different kind of criticism.

Some users objected to Kriti tying a rakhi to the dog, arguing that the ritual should remain focused on the traditional brother-sister relationship. One post went further and interpreted the pet’s inclusion as giving the animal greater significance than the brother.

That interpretation is not how GIVA originally positioned the campaign.

The campaign description says the purpose was to reflect how pets increasingly occupy a family-like emotional role in Indian households. The pet rakhi was intended as an extension of sibling affection, not as a replacement for the human sibling relationship the ad first includes the brother before introducing the pet.

That distinction helps explain why reactions have diverged.

Viewers approaching the advertisement primarily as a representation of a religious-cultural ritual may see the reinterpretation as unnecessary. Viewers approaching it as a commercial about changing family structures may understand the dog scene as the central creative device.

Is This Really a Major ‘Debate’?

There is enough evidence to say that the advertisement has drawn criticism and mixed reactions online.

There are also users defending the campaign, including arguments that the clothing criticism is disproportionate and that recognising pets as family members is hardly disrespectful to Raksha Bandhan.

What has not been established is the scale.

There is no reliable polling, platform-wide sentiment analysis or other evidence showing that a majority or even a particularly large proportion of viewers objected to the campaign.

For that reason, phrases such as “social media erupted”, “massive backlash” or “internet furious” would add certainty that the available evidence does not justify.

“Mixed reactions” or “draws criticism from some social-media users” is more accurate.

GIVA Had Already Made Kriti Sanon the Face of Its New Brand Phase

The collaboration is part of a broader relationship between Kriti and GIVA.

In May 2023, GIVA officially announced Kriti as the face of what it described as a new phase for the jewelry brand. Its own website positioned her around a more youthful, contemporary approach to silver jewelry and modern styling.

The Raksha Bandhan campaign therefore fits the brand strategy.

Rather than presenting Kriti in an entirely conventional festive commercial, GIVA combined traditional imagery with modern fashion and a reworked definition of the sibling bond.

That creative choice is also precisely what produced the criticism.

Kriti Sanon Has Not Publicly Responded to the Criticism

As of August 23, Kriti had not issued a verified public response to the comments about the advertisement in the material reviewed by The Celebrity Hour.

There was also no indication in the sources reviewed that GIVA had withdrawn the campaign or apologized for it.

That matters because social media criticism does not automatically amount to a brand crisis.

Unless Kriti or GIVA addresses the reaction directly, the story remains primarily about how a section of viewers interpreted a creative campaign, not about a formal dispute between the brand and its audience.

Modern Fashion Versus Traditional Festival Ad

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The larger tension in the campaign is familiar to Indian advertising.

Brands increasingly want festival campaigns to look contemporary enough to appeal to younger consumers while retaining enough recognisable cultural imagery to feel connected to the occasion.

That balance is particularly sensitive with festivals such as Raksha Bandhan, where rituals, family relationships and clothing can carry very different expectations across households.

GIVA chose an overtly modern approach on both fronts.

Kriti’s styling is fashion-forward rather than conventionally traditional, while the campaign’s sibling concept deliberately stretches beyond biological brothers and sisters to include a pet.

The response illustrates the creative trade-off: modernising a festival campaign can make it more distinctive, but it can also invite criticism from audiences who expect brands to preserve a more conventional visual language.

The Celebrity Hour Take

The strongest story here is not whether Kriti Sanon’s blouse was “appropriate.” That is subjective and ultimately depends on individual ideas about festive clothing.

The more interesting question is what happens when advertising tries to modernise a ritual that audiences feel personally connected to.

GIVA did not accidentally place a pet in a Raksha Bandhan commercial. The entire “Furever Sibling” campaign was designed around expanding the idea of siblinghood to animals regarded as family members. Kriti’s contemporary styling similarly appears consistent with GIVA’s wider positioning of her as the face of a modern jewellery brand.

That does not invalidate the criticism. Viewers are free to feel that a commercial representation does not reflect how they celebrate the festival.

But reporting the story accurately means distinguishing documented objections from a few visible accounts from evidence of a society-wide backlash.

At present, the first is demonstrably true. The second is not.

Sources & Verification

The Celebrity Hour reviewed GIVA’s own material confirming Kriti Sanon’s association with the jewellery brand, launch coverage describing the “Furever Sibling – The Pawfect Bond” campaign and Pet Collection, and multiple August 23 reports embedding or reproducing identifiable social-media posts criticising the advertisement.

The report does not describe the response as a universal or majority reaction because no reliable evidence establishing the scale of public opposition was found.