A video is being shared on social media with a claim that it was an ad by Andhra Pradesh-based cement manufacturer Nagarjuna cement’s. It shows an animation of a plane hitting the Twin Towers of New York City, reminding the 9/11 attack on them but unable to penetrate, it quickly retracts and swerves to the other side and flies off. The video also shows Telugu actor Varun Tej as the ambassador of the brand. It was shared by a Twitter user, Sergii Kirianov, with a caption that reads:”Indian ads are merciless.”
See the video here:
Indian ads are merciless pic.twitter.com/Tl0XasPjU5
— Sergii Kirianov (@SergiiKirianov) March 10, 2024
FACT CHECK
When Digiteye India received a request on its WhatsApp tipline, our team quickly checked for such ad on Nagarjuna Cements, which is a popular cement in Andhra Pradesh. Varun Tej is the brand ambassador of Nagarjuna Cement and appeared in several videos by the company. He is also related to top Telugu actors — Chiranjeevi, Pawan Kalyan, Allu Arjun and Ram Charan. Some of the latest advertisements of Nagarjuna Cements showing the actor can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/@nagarjunacement3145
Further search for the Nagarjuna Cements pertaining to the 9/11 themed advertisement yielded no response and no such video was ever telecast. Meanwhile, Digiteye India has sent an email to the Nagarjuna cements to ascertain their reply, which will be updated once we receive a reply from the cement manufacturer.
Further search revealed that the user himself acknowledged that it was a fake video and see the conversation on Twitter here:
Hence, the video is fake.
Claim: Nagarjuna Cements uses 9/11 theme in its advertisement ‘mercilessly’.
Conclusion: False, no such ad was ever shown by Nagarjuna Cements.
Rating: Misrepresentation —