Breaking of Ethical Quandaries by Celebrity Brand Ambassadors

Abstract

Recently an order was passed by District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission of Indore (Madhya Pradesh) against online coaching Company Byju and celebrity superstar Shahrukh Khan. Priyanka Dikhsit an innocent IAS aspirant enrolled for Byju's coaching classes in 2021 after getting influenced by their advertisement. But, after paying the fees she found herself cheated and lodged a complaint in consumer forum. The court given the verdict in the favor of Priyanka and the defendants are directed to return the fees along with interest of 12% per annum. Additionally the litigation charges USD 59.84 and compensation of mental sufferings (USD 599.35) is also to be charged from the defendants. Sometimes back, another famous celebrity Akshay Kumar made news by publicly apologizing and stepping down as brand ambassador of Vimal Eliachi. He made his decision after receiving criticism for endorsing a Pan Masala brand. The actor announced to donate the whole fees charged for public welfare causes when people excessively started posting negative comments about him. In another case, a criticism was raised against celebrities Rashmika Mandanna and Vicky Kaushal for promoting vulgarity, inappropriate content and objectifying men in the advertisement of an inner clothes of Macho. These three are among the latest heard cases of unfair advertisements by the celebrity brand ambassadors, but the list is endless. Actually in India, fraudulent and bait advertising is a very common practice followed by advertisers to influence the innocent consumers. The present paper makes an attempt to study the evolution, present status, regulatory framework and trends of Indian celebrity endorsements. Further, the paper evaluates the recent cases of deceptive advertisement in India, various ethical and unethical issues involved in celebrity endorsements and its impact on the consumer.