As the vibrant festival of Holi began, with colours and water guns being sprayed in the air, an important message started making waves on social media—urging people to celebrate responsibly by keeping street animals safe and unharmed.
An Instagram page dedicated to animal welfare asked people to celebrate the festival without forgetting the safety of strays animals. In a thoughtful social media poster, Youth Organization in Defence of Animals (YODA) reshaped the famous Surf Excel tagline “Daag Acche Hain” into “Daag Acche Hai… But Not on Them!”
See post below
All you need to know about viral post
The post highlights the plight of stray animals during Holi, especially Rang Panchami, when people throw colours on them, leaving them scared and distressed.
Featuring an image of a scared, colour-splattered street dog against a backdrop of people joyfully celebrating Holi, the organisation spread awareness about observing cruelty-free Holi 2025.
“While we enjoy the celebrations, street animals suffer in silence, scared, confused, and sometimes even harmed by harmful colors. They don’t understand the fun, only the fear”, YODA captioned the poster on social media. This caption urged festival-goers to avoid throwing colours and water balloons at animals, noting that such activities might put them into fear.
Surf Excel agrees to twist in its tagline
The message quickly went viral and won appreciation and support from people.
Surf Excel, a detergent brand which goes with the tagline “Daag Acche Hai”, also responded to the post. It acknowledged the creative twist on its tagline in the context of Holi celebrations and the importance of caring for stray animals. “We 100% agree!,” the brand said, effectively endorsing this caring and compassionate twist to their iconic tagline.
Netizens react
The campaign resonated with thousands of people who applauded the effort to promote a more responsible way of celebrating this festival. Comments flooded in, reinforcing the idea that true festivity lies in spreading love and kindness, rather than instilling fear in voiceless creatures.
“Breaks my heart to see the cruelty on dogs during festive time, hope this Holi people are more kind towards animals”, one commented. “The only way to add colours in their life is by providing them with love and care”, added another. Netizens echoed with replies, reading, “Please (dogs and cats) no colors on them”.
