Film celebrities must conscious check before endorsing a product - Amitabh Bachchan

With film celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta are trapped in the Maggi Noodles controversy for endorsing the product without verifying its content the question being asked is that should film stars be held responsible for misleading advertisements. 

While Amitabh Bachchan has sidelined himself from the controversy saying that he does not endorse Maggi anymore; he has enlighten the media how he has been cautious while selecting his endorsements. 

Bachchan in an interview said, “Way back in 2003, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk bars were exposed of being worm infested. There was hue and cry in the country but the company came out of the controversy. However by then the name of the brand was tarnished and the sale dropped considerably.”

To revamp the company’s reputation the company hired Amiatbh Bachchan as its brand ambassador and launched a project 'Vishwas' - an education initiative covering 190,000 retailers in key states. However when the company approached Amitabh Bachchan to do the project Amiatbh Bachchan was hesitant. 

Says Bachchan, “When Cadbury approached me to do the project I was a bit hesitant, though I have been eating Cadbury for the past many decades. I just asked the company one question – After doing this advertisement will I be able to sleep at ease or not?”

“The question stirred the company bosses and they took to me to their manufacturing unit to inspect myself how the product was made and how high standards of hygiene were maintained. Watching their high tech unit I was convinced and did the advertisement,” informs Bachchan. 

Bachchan added, “Due to the package issue that led to worm infestation in Cadbury goods the company invested up to Rs 15 crore on imported machinery, a specialized metallic poly-flow, which was costlier by 10-15 per cent, but Cadbury didn't hike the pack price.” 

But how many celebrities like Mr. Bachchan have a conscious check? Frankly speaking film stars themselves before endorsing a product must either verify the authenticity of the product, particularly health related, or ask their conscious because if the product has an ill effect on the population then they cannot repent themselves, for it is too late.