By Storyboard18| April 19, 2026

Lenskart faces fresh backlash as its 2025 Pongal ad resurfaces, sparking debate on cultural representation after recent controversy over religious symbols.

Just days after Lenskart founder Peyush Bansal publicly clarified the company’s stance on religious expression at work, an old festive advertisement has reopened the debate on cultural representation at the omnichannel eyewear brand.

A Pongal-themed Lenskart advertisement from January 2025 resurfaced on social media this week, triggering a fresh backlash after users questioned the portrayal of the South Indian harvest festival. The development follows last week’s uproar over a leaked internal document that appeared to restrict employees from wearing symbols such as bindis and tilaks, even as turbans and hijabs were permitted.

A user, questioned the representation of the festival in the ad campaign, creating a new wave of backlash for Lenskart. Taking to her social media profile on X online, she wrote, “Who the heck eats dates for Pongal? And whats with the costume & props?"

The advertisement was linked by several netizens to the agency Moonshot. A user wrote "he Lenskart "New Generation Pongal" ad (originally from Jan 2025, now resurfaced) was made by Moonshot ad agency. It's co-founded by Tanmay Bhat, Devaiah Bopanna, Puneet Chadha and Deep Parekh. No official Lenskart credit lists an agency, but that's the consistent attribution in recent discussions around this campaign."

Even when xAI's Grok was asked which agency has to be attributed for this campaign, it answered, "The Lenskart "New Generation Pongal" ad video (Jan 2025, now resurfaced) was created by Moonshot ad agency. Co-founded by Tanmay Bhat (thetanmay), Devaiah Bopanna (devaiahPB), Puneet Chadha & Deep Parekh. No official Lenskart credit lists the agency, but this attribution is consistent across recent discussions."

However, one of Moonshot's founders Devaiah Bopanna has come forward and said that the company Moonshot is not involved in the making of this ad. Earlier, Lenskart co-founder and chief executive officer Peyush Bansal has responded to social media backlash over a viral grooming policy document, stating that the material being circulated is outdated and does not reflect the company’s current guidelines.

The clarification followed a controversy triggered by a screenshot purportedly taken from Lenskart’s employee style guide, which was widely shared on X and appeared to suggest restrictions on certain religious symbols such as bindi, tilak and kalawa while allowing other forms of expression. The authenticity and context of the document could not be independently verified.

Peyush Bansal stated in a post on X that the document going viral is inaccurate and does not represent the company’s present policies, adding that Lenskart’s current guidelines do not impose restrictions on any form of religious expression, including bindi and tilak, as stated.