Turkey’s broadcasting watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), has launched an investigation into a Bosch Turkey Mother’s Day commercial, which the company pulled after it sparked a row over its use of language associated with motherhood to describe pet ownership, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Sunday.
The commercial, titled “Tam bi’ anne hikayesi” (A Real Mother Story), promoted a vacuum cleaner as part of Bosch Turkey’s Mother’s Day campaign.
It was removed from the company’s digital platforms after criticism from government officials, pro-government media outlets and social media users.
RTÜK announced the investigation after Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş criticized the commercial, accusing Bosch of devaluing the concept of motherhood.
RTÜK President Mehmet Daniş said the mother-child bond could not be “symbolized and trivialized” for commercial purposes and that the watchdog would not allow what he described as an erosion of values on television through the concept of family.
The commercial, prepared ahead of Mother’s Day on May 10, takes place in a Bosch store and features a conversation between two women in which one appears to be talking about motherhood.
At the end of the commercial, however, it becomes clear that the “child” she is referring to is her pet dog.
Phrases used in the commercial, including “You must be a mother,” “I have two as well” and “That’s what children are like,” became the focus of criticism on social media, where many users accused the company of undermining the family and the concept of children.
Yeni Şafak, a pro-government newspaper, targeted the commercial with the headline “Dog propaganda instead of children” and claimed it should be viewed in the context of what it called hostility toward the family.
As the criticism grew, Bosch Turkey removed the commercial from all digital platforms where it had been published.
Göktaş, whose ministry has been at the forefront of the government’s campaign to promote traditional family values, said in a statement on X on Sunday that motherhood “is not a concept that can be devalued by reducing it to advertising language.”
Annelik, reklam diline indirgenerek değersizleştirilecek bir kavram değildir!
Bir çocuğun hayatına sevgiyle dokunan, onu büyüten, koruyan ve geleceğe hazırlayan her kadın —biyolojik ya da koruyucu— gerçek bir annedir. Bu bağ; sadece bireysel değil, aynı zamanda toplumsal…
— Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş (@MahinurOzdemir) May 3, 2026
“Every woman who touches a child’s life with love, raises, protects and prepares that child for the future, whether biological or foster, is a real mother,” Göktaş said. “This bond is not only individual but also the foundation of social continuity.”
She said all forms of love were valuable but that motherhood should not be “stretched” or “trivialized” for the sake of communication strategies.
The controversy also divided social media users.
Critics of the commercial said putting motherhood and pet ownership on the same level damaged social values, while others argued that pets are often treated as members of the family and that the commercial was intended to appeal to that audience.
The backlash came amid the government’s growing emphasis on traditional family values as part of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s “Year of the Family” campaign, which was launched in 2025 to promote marriage, childbearing and what officials describe as family stability.
The campaign has included financial incentives for newlyweds and families with children, but critics say the government has described demographic decline largely as a cultural and moral problem while giving less attention to the economic pressures that make it difficult for young people to marry or raise children.