Akshay Kumar's apology over the recent Vimal Elaichi advertisement is being hailed by many, but ad industry experts and brand strategists remain unimpressed. The experts feel that the “apology” has no meaning as the ad would continue to promote the product.
Business & Brand-strategy Specialist Harish Bijoor tells e4m, “I view his apology to be a U-turn. That's a nice name for a movie, not for a movie star in the market of brand endorsements.” Adding further, Bijoor says, “This sure is a late afterthought. For Vimal, which wanted a brand endorsement, this is a brand-de-endorsement of high editorial visibility. It also looks very orchestrated. Last year, Mr Bachchan too withdrew from his controversial endorsement but the ad continued to run through the year".
Sandeep Goyal, Managing Director of Rediffusion, echoes the sentiments. “For Akshay this has been a serious error in judgment. The donation cannot be the only atonement”, says Goyal.
Terming Akshay’s apology as a PR gimmick, Shashank Lanjekar, Chief Strategy Officer, Taproot dentsu, said, “I view it as a necessary PR act in order to maintain a desired image among both: his followers and his critics. Fans and critics do tend to get hyper-involved with every act a celebrity undertakes and an adverse event or an undesirable reaction can be harmful to the equity, the ad-worthiness and the overall appeal of a celebrity. Hence it is important for a celebrity to be seen as accountable for his or her actions, especially in the eyes of those who follow him or her".
“This apology by Akshay is aimed at placating his fans and not getting into legal issues with the brand. Though in itself a post facto apology seems hypocritical. He clearly wants to have his cake and eat it too,” opines Lloyd Mathias, Business Strategist and Independent Director.
Mathias adds, “A genuine apology would need him to terminate the contract and refund his endorsement fees. Or indeed use his star power to counter the misdirection his endorsement may have caused. Otherwise, it’s just an attempt to look good. Surely a star of his stature ought to have done adequate research and due diligence before accepting the contract to endorse the product?”
Third most influential celebrity
Akshay Kumar has a very clean image in the industry and enjoys a high brand recall value. He enjoys a huge fan following in India and abroad and millions of youngsters idolize him.
Duff & Phelps, A Kroll Business ranked Akshay as India’s third most influential brand in its Celebrity Brand Valuation Study 2021 with an estimated brand value USD 139.6 million. The actor was ranked second in 2020.
How does the entire episode reflect on Akshay’s overall brand image?
Experts are of the opinion that the controversy will hardly impact Akshay’s brand value. “I don't think it's going to affect his brand image much. If Salman Khan can get a Pepsi endorsement despite his kind of controversies, this act of Akshay doesn't even get close in comparison,” Lanjekar says.
“Public memory is short, fortunately or unfortunately. In this case, it's not an act of a serious nature in my view. It was an unforeseen response to Akshay endorsing a non-tobacco product. So I do believe that this won't stay for long in follower or critic memory and he will bounce back in terms of his reputation which he has carefully and painstakingly built and maintained”, Lanjekar says.
Goyal echoes the sentiments. “There is no threat to brand Akshay. As far as his personal brand is concerned, such controversies are nothing more than water on a duck’s back.”
Mathias too feels that the episode will soon be forgotten and hence may have no ‘long term impact’ on Akshay’s brand value.
Lloyd does expect that this incident may prompt brands to relook at their endorsement contracts with celebrities and mandate that their celebrities don’t go back on their endorsements publicly.
Any publicity is good publicity for brands and celebs both. Controversies and social media war often help them maximize their reach, brand leaders say.
The controversy
Akshay is the latest Bollywood star after Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn to join the pan masala brand promos for their cardamom products.
In the ad, Khan and Devgn were seen welcoming Akshay to the ‘Vimal universe’. All of them struck the Vimal salute and chewed on the Elaichi (cardamom). Shocked to see Kumar in the ad film, his fans shared old videos of him where he spoke against consuming alcohol and tobacco products and promoting them.
Critics and a section of netizens called him a hypocrite as he has been the face of the government’s anti-smoking campaign. Vimal has been associated with tobacco products which are linked to cancer and other ailments.
Meanwhile, while Akshay claimed in his statement that he has never endorsed tobacco, netizens found an old commercial featuring the actor where he is seen promoting a cigarette brand. This triggered another round of trolling. It is yet to be seen how the actor will respond to the fresh controversy.
Kumar's association with Vimal Elaichi snowballed into a controversy after he appeared in an advertisement endorsing the pan masala brand. After facing massive backlash from netizens for becoming the face of a tobacco brand, Kumar posted a public apology on April 21 that he was withdrawing his association with the brand. In his post, he apologised to his fans for his participation in the ad and promised to donate his endorsement fee to a cause.
The actor further clarified that he can’t stop the controversial ad from being telecast due to “legal bindings”.