Sachin Tendulkar on tobacco ads: 'Got many offers but never accepted any of them'

Sachin Tendulkar said he refused to endorse cigarette brands even when other players where supporting two popular brands.

On World No Tobacco Day, Sachin Tendulkar revealed that he received several offers to promote tobacco products but refused them all. Speaking at an event in Mumbai on Tuesday, the legendary cricketer shared how his father Ramesh Tendulkar advised him against promoting the use of tobacco.

"When I started playing for India, I had just come out of school. I started getting many advertisement offers but my father told me never to promote tobacco products. I got many such offers but never accepted any of them," Tendulkar said.

Speaking on a news channel, the 50-year-old added that he didn’t have a sticker on his bat for about two years while other players were promoting two cigarette brands. But when marketers suggested he use the stickers to make money, Sachin Tendulkar refused because he wanted to stay committed to his father's advice.

“This was a promise I made to my father. He told me I am a role model and a lot of people will follow what I do. That is why I have never endorsed tobacco products or alcohol. In the 1990s my bat didn’t have a sticker on it, I didn’t have a contract. But everybody else in the team was endorsing two brands in particular – Wills and Four Square," The Statesman quoted Tendulkar as saying.

"I didn’t break the promise that I gave to my father by not endorsing these brands. I got many offers from them to endorse their brand by having their sticker on my bat but I didn’t want to promote all that. I have stayed away from these two things and have never broken the promise to my father,” he added.