Roping in some big celebrities and making them endorse your product has been the old tried and tested marketing campaign in history. This not just helped brands build a huge consumer chain but also gave celebrities a second source of income. But there have been instances in the past where the plan has backfired pretty badly. Surprisingly, there have been chances where the celebrities got trapped in controversies for endorsing a questionable product. And the latest controversy of Akshay Kumar is an example of that. Today here we bring you a list of the top 10 Bollywood celebrities who are called out for endorsing problematic products:
1. Akshay Kumar (Vimal): Following the steps of Bollywood superstars, Ajay Devgn and Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar recently became the brand ambassador of Vimal. But his admirers were not happy with his choice and that’s why they called him out for promoting a pan masala that was injurious to health.
2. Yami Gautam (Fair and Lovely): Fairing creams like Fair and Lovely are one of the key reasons behind the deep-rooted colorism in our society. And that was the key reason why Yami Gautam received backlash when she started promoting Fair and Lovely. Looking at the declining sales, the brand changed the name of the product from ‘Fair’ to “Glow’.
3. Shah Rukh Khan (Fair and Handsome); Just like Yami, SRK too faced criticism for promoting man fairness cream named fair and handsome. "If it is a product that is legal and on the market, I will never question it," the actor said in response to the uproar.
4. Sachin Tendulkar (Paytm): Back in the day, Paytm aired an advertisement, which captured a kid who was depicting a young Sachin Tendulkar getting slapped. The ad was called out for promoting children abuse and for causing visual displeasure.
5. Pierce Brosnan (Pan Bahar): Now just Indian celebrities, but international celebrities like Pierce Brosnan were criticized by the audience for promoting a hazardous pan masala. However, the actor eventually admitted to Indian authorities that he had been "duped" by a mouth freshener company that had hired him to sell its product.
6. Saif Ali Khan (Pan Bahar): We never take lessons from others’ mistakes. The same happened with Saif Ali Khan, even after looking at the backlash Pierce received, he continued endorsing the product and received an even worse response. In fact, the Delhi government wrote to the actor in 2015, urging that he stop promoting the product.
7. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Kalyan Jeweller): back in the day, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was called out by a group of activists for featuring in a “racist’ print advertisement by Kalyan Jewelers that featured the actor reclining under a parasol carried over her head by a 'dark-skinned slave-boy,' according to the letter.
8. Madhu Sapre and Milind Soman (Tuff): Madhu Sapre and Milind Soman's ad shoot for Tuff in 1995 caused quite a stir among the viewers. They posed nude, with only a pair of shoes on their feet and a python wrapped around their bodies, causing outrage across the nation.
9. Ranveer Singh (Jack and Jones): With an unpleasant punch line, Ranveer Singh posed with a woman thrown over his shoulder, insinuating that women are just objects. The sexist tone of the Jack and Jones commercial sparked controversy.
10. Sana Khan (Amul Macho): Sana Khan was featured in a men's underwear ad, which was slammed for exposing unwanted excessively sexual scenes. The commercial drew a lot of criticism and was eventually taken off.
