A photo of an alleged matrimonial ad that says that a fully vaccinated Roman Catholic woman is looking for a groom who has taken “both doses” of Covishield was shared by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
Vaccinated bride seeks vaccinated groom! No doubt the preferred marriage gift will be a booster shot!? Is this going to be our New Normal? pic.twitter.com/AJXFaSAbYs
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 8, 2021
Tharoor’s tweet made it to the Hindustan Times newsletter.
Read this and more in today’s #HTCovidDispatch: an informed pandemic-related newsletter with updates and opinions
Click here: https://t.co/XEfoyQ40uO pic.twitter.com/fKaeNNJEKx
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) June 9, 2021
The purported matrimonial ad is viral on Twitter.
Kya baat! The wonder that is Bharat! 😊 pic.twitter.com/jIjbHdsNz5
— Malavika Avinash (@MalavikaBJP) June 8, 2021
New matrimonial ads, meanwhile! 😂💉👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/3qoAcrbTug
— Prashant Kumar (@scribe_prashant) June 8, 2021
Dekho, @angryyoungman55 pic.twitter.com/LnuU78nDxx
— Kaveri 🇮🇳 (@ikaveri) June 7, 2021
It is widespread on Facebook as well
Fake newspaper clipping
The viral matrimonial ad was created on a newspaper clipping generating website called fodey.com. The website gives users the option to write a story, give it a headline, name the newspaper and change the date. We have juxtaposed the viral clipping (left) with a clipping manufactured by Alt News (right). If one notices carefully, the third column of the report has the same words. This is the part that is uneditable and confirms that the clipping is not genuine.
According to The Indian Express, the ad was created by Savio Figueiredo from Aldona, Goa to encourage people to get vaccinated. He had also shared the number of the vaccination centre in Aldona and informed about the revised gaps to take the second dose of Covishield.
THE FUTURE OF MATRIMONIALS
FOR YOUR SAKE AND THAT OF YOUR CHILDREN PLEASE TAKE THE COVISHIELD VACCINE
The…
Posted by Savio Figueiredo on Thursday, 3 June 2021
Talking to The Indian Express, the 58-year-old said: “I created the ad with the intention of encouraging people to take the vaccine and posted it on my Facebook page. Someone got the bull by the tail, thought it was real, and now it has gone viral.”
A spoof matrimonial ad created on a website was thus believed to be true. Unlike Figueriredo’s good intentions, the same website has also been used to target opposition leaders Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
