Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, known for his nationalist brand of cinema, found himself in a soup after netizens trolled the actor for days for endorsing a brand that also makes pan masala. On Thursday, the actor issued a public apology on social media platforms promising to dissociate himself from the brand.
The 54-year-old actor had earlier vouched to never promote tobacco.
"With all humility, I step back. I have decided to contribute the entire endorsement fee towards a worthy cause," he said in a note on Twitter.
Kumar said the brand might continue airing the ads till the "legal duration of the contract that is binding upon me."
"But I promise to be extremely mindful in making my future choices. In return I shall forever continue to ask for your love and wishes," he added.
Earlier, megastar Amitabh Bachchan had also withdrawn from an advertising campaign of a pan masala brand and said he had returned the money he had received for promoting it. According to COTPA (Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003), tobacco advertising is not allowed. The ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India) guidelines also state that celebrities must not endorse products that require health warnings on the packaging.
Massive ad spends by brands
Despite the law, celeb-led advertising is immensely popular among tobacco brands that collectively spend over Rs 700-800 crores in advertising, according to media buyers estimates. They are often present across high-reach properties such as the Indian Premier League (IPL) and popular reality shows. Kamla Pasand Pan Masala, for instance, has been the title sponsor of reality shows; Vimal Pan Masala has also been associated with IPL as the streaming partner.
“The trend is a bit of a hypocrisy, these celebrities also endorse cola, alcoholic beverage brands and likely unhealthy food brands and snacks (high fat, salt and sugar),” says a senior media agency executive on the condition of anonymity.
“I guess the larger trend is the overall impact that this has on their appeal and perception with younger audiences who tend to have higher moral standards. Otherwise except for Virat Kohli who took a stand against such endorsements, it’s business as usual for most,” the executive adds.
Converting controversy into opportunity
Despite the firm stand taken by the ad industry regulator Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) against surrogate advertising, many Indian celebs routinely feature in pan masala ads. The list include A-listers such as Ajay Devgn, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, Saif Ali Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Anushka Sharma who currently or at some point endorsed brands like Vimal, Signature, Baba Elaichi and Pan Bahar.
Manish Porwal, managing director at Mumbai-based Alchemist Marketing Solutions, shares that celebrities tend to charge a premium when they endorse certain categories including tobacco brands and this has been the trend for long.
“What has changed is social media has given a voice to the consumers by and large. They respond, react and talk back and that’s the big difference. Tobacco, as a category, has a question mark on it ethically and morally. When something like this happens celeb take moral responsibility like in Kumar’s case. To me, this disassociation seems like a good strategy of converting a controversy into an opportunity,” he adds.
Kumar has been known for being upright and health conscious and is often seen dabbling in cinema around socio-economic causes. The apology redeems his image. However, it would be interesting to see if other big celebrities follow in his footsteps.
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