Should the ambassador be held guilty if the brand goofs up?

Till he rammed his car that fateful night, Tiger Woods was one of the most expensive and sought-after brand ambassadors. But as his sexploits became media fodder, brands started avoiding him as regularly as his putts would avoid the birdie. While we know a lot of instances of the brand suffering because of its ambassador’s misdemeanours, it is also interesting to study the repercussions when the tables are turned. Should the brand ambassador be held responsible in case the brand creates any mischief?

In early 2000, Home Trade launched an advertising blitzkrieg using some of the biggest personalities – Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan. No one quite knew what Home Trade did, including the personalities endorsing them, I guess. Home Trade went bust soon after, and the trio seemed to develop selective amnesia. When the cola pesticide controversy broke out, Aamir Khan stood by brand Coca-Cola and went all out to defend it, even giving testimonials in his personal capacity. Aamir, being Aamir, pulled it off well, although it is a known fact that the beverage manufactured back then, did contain traces of pesticide.

But do you think brand ambassadors should find blood on their hands, if the hand that feeds them is covered in muck? Tricky!

When celebrities sign up for a contract, their immediate concerns are the moolah and whether the brand would gel with their personality. An adverse eventuality is the farthest thought in their mind. They would never be privy to the internal machinations of the company, stability and long term prospects. Hence it would not be entirely just to blame them.

Having said that, celebrities should realise that consumers would trust or prefer a brand over its competitors if they are endorsing it. Hence, they need to exercise maximum caution before signing on the dotted line. While initiating penal action against them would be harsh, brand ambassadors need to accept the moral responsibility and express regret about erroneously misleading consumers. After all, celebrities, too, are brands in their own right. And no one would like to be seen in the wrong company. Accenture would certainly agree!

Pester power ahoy!

Have you ever tried counting the number of ads featuring kids? Not that you don’t have better things to do in life! But if you are a parent, who has to regularly field off questions from your children why you cannot buy the latest car or mobile phone, you might do well to undertake this activity asap. The need for the brazen use of khandaani looking kids to sell everything from mosquito repellants to telecom services is indeed questionable. One can understand if the product or brand is meant for the child, say a toy, a health drink, bicycle or apparel. But why show a 5-year old becoming a scarecrow to help his granny shoo the crows away; and bring in a detergent which cleans the stains, while the kid beams his angelic pearlies before the camera? Probably, it is the urge to tell a story. Or the itch to add the cuteness factor, and establish the emotional connect with the brand. Whatever the ruse, the ground zero of all this marketing activity is the middle-class home, which might not be financially strong enough to satiate the kids’ endless demands. Marketers should realise this. Pester power is potent. And marketers do realise this. The sad fact is that despite all the claims of thinking out-of-the-box, marketers and advertisers resort to good ol’ pester power to sell their wares. Offhand, I can rattle off a slew of products which use children – telecom, detergents, mosquito repellant, soaps, washing machines, television, insurance, banking services, hawaai chappals, air conditioners, everything except condoms. Or is it? Hark back to the 1980s when a Kohinoor ad featured a desperate couple trying to steal in a few private moments when their bonny baby starts bawling. No one has been creative enough to feature kids in condom ads after that. Developed countries have strict rules for featuring young ones in ads. Like India’s free market economy, its advertising industry, too, uses kids wantonly to sell products. It’s time our marketers, creative gurus and ad film directors really put their thinking caps on, and shun the easy way out. Using kids to sell products is not cute, it’s irritating.