mid-day editorial: There's a reason ads are called endorsements

A report in this paper said yesterday that a Bollywood actor turned down a substantial monetary deal to endorse a fairness cream. The actor said he did not believe that one skin tone should be held above the other, nor should any aspirational value be attached to it.

This is good judgement on the part of Bollywood. We have had such examples of celebrities turning down endorsement deals of products they do not believe in. One has read about badminton champion-turned-coach P Gopichand turning down an endorsement deal for an aerated drink because he believed it was not good for health.

Unfortunately though, we see this few and far between. There should be much greater scrutiny by celebrities while picking which products they wish to endorse. Money cannot and should not sway a celebrity to such an extent that they stop thinking about how it can impact people who idolize them, especially the younger and more impressionable generations.

We often see that celebrities sign endorsement deals without doing much research into the product they are associating with. When there is some controversy, they usually come up with explanations that they were not aware or that their secretary or public relations team handle such matters. While it is true that one may not know every single aspect of a company or product, it would be wise to desist from pushing products that do not align with your ideology. It will also be good if stars take some time to sit back and think about the wider ramifications of what or who they are associating with. Nobody grudges the superstars the crores they make through deals, but they must sign on the dotted line with a sense of responsibility and some caution.

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