Celebrity Advertising: Does It Make Things Easy?
Ankit Dhasmana

“A celebrity is a name which, once made by news, now makes news by itself”.

If we’re rapidly turning the pages of a glossy magazine or surfing the Television channel at high speed, an advertisement featuring Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan or Karisma Kapoor is sure to slow us down. Then again we might find the exasperating ad-lines or jingles buzzing in our head all through the day. Celebrity endorsements ensure that the product lingers in the memory long after the advertisement has been seen and phrases like ‘Zor ka jhatka dheere se lage', 'Khoob jamegi jab mil baithenge teen yaar, and ‘Nothing official about It’   are often discussed in informal circles.

Celebrities, particularly movie stars, TV personalities, and sports heroes, provide a popular type of reference group appeal to their loyal followers and to lots among the general public. They represent an idealization of life that most people would love to live, especially in India where people are crazy about Movies, Cricket and Religion. Celebrities constitute an important reference group, yielding great influence over us. If these were the reasons then why did Maruti Versa fail in spite of being endorsed by Amitabh Bachan and Abhishek Bachan?

Do celebrity endorsements just improve the ‘shelf life’ of the advertisement or do they influence the purchase decision directly?  Or in other words “Is star as a salesman effective?”

A celebrity may be seen as a testimonial, or endorsement, as an actor in a commercial, or as a company spokesperson.

1. Testimonials.  If the celebrity has personally used the product or service and is in a position to attest to its quality, he or she may give a testimonial citing its benefits.
E.G: Shah Rukh Khan testifies to the benefits of Hyundai’s Santro.

2. Endorsement.   Celebrities often are asked to lend their name to ads for products or services with which they may or may not be experts.
E.G: Sachin Tendulkar endorses for Visa Credit Cards, Amitabh Bachan for BPL.

3. Actor, A celebrity may be asked to present a product or service as part of a character enactment, rather than as a personal testimonial or endorsement. E.G: Kapil Dev and Romi Dev character enact for Samsung electronics to deliver the message

4. Spokesperson.  A celebrity who represents a brand or company over an extended period of time, often in print and television advertisements, and in personal appearances, is usually called a company spokesperson.  Eventually, the celebrity’s appearance becomes closely associated with the brand or company.
E.G: For the past several years, for example Aishwarya Rai is the Spokesperson for Longines watches.

Sachin Tendulkar endorses more than a dozen products from Todays ball pen to Visa credit card to Palio, Sharukh khan features in Santro, Bagpiper, Airtel and lot more. Looking at the number of Ads in which a single celebrity features isn’t it deceptive? Can we actually associate the brand with them? Doesn’t it lead to overexposure of the celebrity? Should there be any sort of cap on the number of advertisements done by celebrities?

Advertisers spend enormous sums of money to have celebrities promote their products, with the expectation that the reading or viewing audience will react positively to the celebrity’s association with their product.  Should the image of the product be risked on the fallibility of a single person?Hansie Cronje, Azharuddin, and Ajay jadeja had to be pulled out of all the Ads after the match-fixing scandal. Mike Tyson was dropped by Diet Pepsi after the heavyweight champ’s much publicized marital problems.Salman Khans Ads were stopped after he was caught in the deer hunting case. Celebrity endorsements and testmonials have become so lucrative that a special branch of the publicity sub-industry has evolved to manage them.What is the risk-return ratio that an ideal marketer should be ready to take?

Many believe that it is the instrument of foolish marketers.They stand by the fact that the stars are only misleading the consumers instead of guiding them and they themselves might switch leaving the consumers confused.
E.G: Aamir Khan and Aiswarya Rai endorsed Pepsi but are now seen in Coke’s Ad.These products are direct compettitors in the Indian market. .Are they loyal towards the audience?

Amitabh Bachan, the most dignified personality of Indian cinema is seen endorsing products like Lehar Mirinda,Sharukh Khan endorsing products like Mayur suitings.Is there a mismatch in the personlity vis-à-vis the product? Is it true that Indian advertiser first selects the celebrity and then decides on the product thus creating a blunder? Should there be more focus on deciding the product first and then decide the celebrity?

Mega brands don't always depend on celebrities to hard sell for them. Coke has a policy of not getting its products endorsed through celebrities throughout the world. But it India even they resorted to such a practice. Is it imperative for the company to do that? Then there are companies who are switching over to celebrity advertisements like Hero Honda. Is the switch justified considering the sale they already generated in the Auto Industry?

Doesn’t celebrity Ads lead to spread of unethical practices in the society?   Bagpiper Ads featuring Sharukh khan, Akshay Kumar, Dharmendra and Baba Zarda with Govinda and Amzad Khan are some of the examples.

It is high time that we as a society give it a serious thought.


Submitted By;
Ankit Dhasmana,
Masters In International Business,
Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University.

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