Endorsements and ethics
In this era of ‘woke culture’ and ‘cancel culture’, celebs are being watched closely and heavily scrutinized. The smallest misstep might result in a barrage of hate and threats. You have to feel for them, it’s not easy being a multi-millionaire and receiving all that negativity, it’d break anyone.
Jokes apart, the ethics of celebrity endorsements are murky, to say the least. A gray area, if you will. As they say, social media is a double-edged sword and Bollywood stars have gotten their share of cuts and bruises. Fans weren’t pleased with Akshay Kumar’s hypocrisy when he endorsed a pan masala brand despite being pretty vocal about the negative effects of tobacco and alcohol. In another interesting case, Alia Bhatt received flak for being a part of a bridal wear ad that challenged kanyadaan – a Hindu marriage practice/ritual. Did she deserve it? No. But the right-wing certainly thought she did, which brings attention to the fact that there are layers to this thing. At this point, it is extremely difficult to clearly demarcate endorsements as ethically wrong or right, since we’ve seen that backlash can be political. When that seems to be the case, brands must note the fact that their actual clientele isn’t involved and should stick with their campaign.
Anyway, let’s take a look at the celebrity endorsement market. Most of you would probably be aware that this market is huge. Seeing the number of endorsements around us in various media, you don’t need rocket science to figure this out. Celebrity endorsement is a Rs. 300 crore market in the digital space alone. The total market could potentially be as high as Rs. 1200 crore. With that amount of money, you could buy about 3 lakh PS5s. Money is power, and with great power comes great responsibility. Uncle Ben’s words, not mine. Brands and celebrities have to be wary of each other when signing endorsement deals as they can adversely affect each other in case things go south. A celeb who pulls back/apologizes can ruin a brand’s reputation. Which brings us to the next point – ethics.
Problems arise when celebs endorse controversial products. Taapsee Pannu, a Bollywood actress seems to have found a formula that works. “I endorse the products that I am a consumer of. So if there are products that I have consumed or I am consuming, I don’t mind telling the world that I have used it and I enjoy using it, and hence I am part of endorsing that product. The product or brand that I don’t identify with, I don’t use; I stay away from it even though sometimes it involves putting down a big paycheck”, she says.
All these instances beg the question of whether followers are the responsibility of celebs. There doesn’t seem to be a common consensus on the matter, though. People like Ashwini Chaudhary, a director, think that stars should take responsibility for endorsements and people can no longer be misled, as they have access to information and can express their opinions freely. What he doesn’t realize is that most of us spend those resources watching memes and debating on the best way to poop. Others, like Taapsee, think that the perception of a product is subjective and that people should respect celebs’ choices.
Ultimately, the onus is on you to judge the product for what it is.