Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar resigned from being one of Vimal Elaichi’s brand ambassadors after facing backlash on social media. Kumar issued a statement apologizing to his fans for taking part in the ad, which was seen as a replacement advertisement. He said that while “he does not and will not endorse tobacco,” he respects the “outpouring of your feelings given my association with Vimal Elaichi.”
It is important to note that tobacco product advertising is prohibited in India. However, the brands that sell banned products indulge in substitute advertising, which means they advertise other products like Elaichi, bottled water, soda, etc. under their brand name.
Why the uproar over Akshay Kumar’s performance?
Akshay’s apology came after the advert in which he starred alongside Vimal’s other brand ambassadors – Ajay Devgn and Shah Rukh Khan – aired in April. Soon after, an old video clip of Akshay denouncing Gutkha ads went viral. In the viral video, the actor can be heard saying that he was offered a lot of money to support such products but took the moral route. “Many Gutkha companies offer me exorbitant amounts, but it’s not about the money. I will do no wrong,” he is heard saying at a gathering promoting Swastha Bharat.
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Why do some actors choose to be associated with these products?
Ajay Devgn who was associated with Vimal for years, said in a recent interview with indianexpress.com that it was a “personal decision”. He added that certain products deemed “fake” “should not be sold.” “When you do something, you also see how harmful it would be. Some are harmful, some are not. I would say it without naming it because I don’t want to encourage it; I made Elaichi (commercial). What I think is more than advertising, if certain things are that wrong then they shouldn’t be sold,” he said.
Many film actors have been dealing with substitute advertising for prohibited products for decades. Ranveer Singh, Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol, Tiger Shroff, Mahesh Babu, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta have all been the face of one of the pan masala brands indulging in surrogate advertising at some point. Amitabh Bachchan got into controversy when he became the face of Kamla Pasand, a pan masala brand.
The outcry over Amitabh Bachchan’s association with the Pan Masala brand
Amitabh Bachchan’s office has been criticized for endorsing a brand of pan masala, and issued a statement saying, “He was not aware that it fell under substitute advertising.” The statement also mentioned that Bachchan canceled the contract and refunded the amount received from the brand. but before retiring from the business, When a fan asked Amitabh Bachchan on Facebook why he was the face of a pan masala brand, Bachchan had said, ‘If some people benefit from an industry, shouldn’t we think about why I’m associated with it?’ If it’s an industry, then we should consider it our industry too. Now you might think I shouldn’t do it, but I get paid for it.”
Foreign actors have endorsed similar brands
Not just Indian actors, Irish actor Pierce Brosnan too advertised a similar brand in 2018 and drew the ire of the Delhi government. The actor later said he was unaware of the nature of the product he was promoting through substitute advertising. “In a written response to the Delhi State Tobacco Control Cell, the actor stated that he was scammed by the company as the latter failed to disclose the dangerousness of the product and other terms of the advertising contract,” Additional Director (Health) SK Arora had told PTI.
In his reply, the James Bond actor had also mentioned that his legal contract with the company had expired and that he was “ready to extend all forms of support and cooperation” against such campaigns.