There seems to be a sudden dearth of celebrities to endorse brands. Then what explains even competing brands signing up erstwhile celebrities of their competitors?
Fiama di Wills has signed up the same grandma who not too long ago was extolling the virtues of Hamam Nalangu Maavu brand. Never mind she is not a popular actress; and ignore the fact that the much-hyped Hamam variant bit the dust. Has India run out of grandmas?
What about the case of Sachin being signed up by Coke. This cola bottle sized celebrity was seen endorsing Pepsi for more than a decade. Now that you put a Coke in his hand, is the general public supposed to forget Pepsi? Every time and in every Coke commercial if the average consumer sees Sachin with a cola in his hand, wouldn’t he be thinking Pepsi? Even if most of us suffer from short-term memory loss.
The new addition to this madness is my favourite company (if you know what I mean) Hindustan Unilever. They have signed up actress Asin to make their Fair & Lovely even fairer!
Who are they kidding? Asin for half a decade was applying Fairever on her face or so she claimed in all Fairever advertising. Today, she gets up on the wrong side of the bed and has started applying Fair & Lovely. And wants us to follow suit. Excuse me?
Using celebrities in itself is fraught with risk. Remember Accenture’s predicament? Having tied themselves intricately with Tiger Woods, they were left high and dry when Tiger Woods was found flirting with 19th after every 18-hole golf game!
Now, why would any sensible marketer (never mind if it’s an oxymoron) ever use their competitor’s celebrity?
Is this country bereft of celebrities? Or, are marketers bereft of common sense?
