Will God punish your child if the home work is not completed while you are out for dinner! A Volkswagen advertisement says so in its latest ad.

The German car maker’s TV commercial for its ‘Polo’ version shows a mother picking up her son from school. As her son sits in the car, she informs that he will have to do his home work all by himself as she will be going out with his dad.

She warns him that if he doesn’t do his homework, God will punish him. The child then asks her if God would have time to notice and punish him.

There comes the answer via the Bluetooth installed in the car as the child’s father changes his voice and says, “I am busy, but I am sure I can take some time to come punish you.”

The child is left surprised and the commercial ends after introducing the car’s features.

How many of us scare kids in the name of God? It could have sounded better if the mother said that you would make God and us happy if you were a good boy and do your work on your own. The voice heard by the child in the car scares him and the mother has been shown happy doing that.

As parents, we always give a beautiful picture of God to our kids and by making a small child hear a forceful voice is like going back to old ways like, ‘buddha baba aa jayega’ (that scary man is due anytime). Why can’t TV ads show kids a better picture of lot of things and issues?

We all believe in making our kids smart, but at the same time we don’t want to scare them.

Why do kids love Santa Claus? It’s because kids see an old man with a long beard getting them gifts, which of course parents keep. Haven’t we all done that!

A twinkle and a smile on our kids face make us happy. What is God for our kids? They see us praying and they follow the same. We tell them that He will always be there for you and they believe us.

Many kids remember God before and after exams or any other work.

It’s their innocence. In addition, even if they do not get the desired result, as parents we guide them by asking them to work hard next time.

The advertisement in question shows a child not more than 4 or 5 years, an age where they need a parent’s help for homework. We always teach our kids that God punishes those who do bad and evil things. Not doing homework is not a punishable act by God.

Let us deliver good messages to our young and smart generation, or would you be amused by the defence published by Business Line newspaper: “The look of awe on the face of the little one makes the film. And the innovative way of conveying the message about the new feature-laden Polo works rather well”!