Nestle India on Thursday said it has already withdrawn packs of its chocolate brand KitKat that featured images of Lord Jagannath and Mata Subhadra on the wrapper. Expressing regret, the company added that these packs were withdrawn from the market last year “as a pre-emptive” action.

The company’s statement comes after it faced flak from some social media users, who posted pictures of these packs and alleged that the company had hurt religious sentiments by using these images on the wrapper.

A spokesperson for Nestle India said that Kitkat travel break packs are meant to celebrate local destinations. “Last year, we wanted to celebrate the culture of Odisha with designs on packs representing ‘Pattachitra’, an art form uniquely identifiable by its vivid imagery. We wanted to encourage people to know about the art & its artisans. Our past campaigns have also shown that consumers like to collect and keep such beautiful designs. We do understand the sensitivity of the matter and regret if we have inadvertently hurt anyone’s sentiment. We had already withdrawn these packs from the market last year,” the spokesperson added. 

Pattachitra is a traditional artform of Odisha and refers to cloth-based scroll paintings. These are known to feature mythological narratives and folktale themes.

The packaged food major’s KitKat travel break campaign has been running for several years.

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