Bollywood Endorsements Worries Brand Consultants

In India, the lucrative celebrity endorsement industry has many brand consultants worried over an approach they might call too fast and too furious.

Bollywood stars account for 80% of the 185 million dollar industry. In a market so large and competitive, many worry that celebrities are rushing toward the money while bypassing essential questions about their relevance to the brand.

At the heart of the issue is authenticity. If celebrity endorsements are seen as indiscriminate, as many brand consultants fear they will, they run the risk of destabilizing the industry as a whole.

Is Freida replacing Aishwarya as the face of L’Oreal Paris?

Recently, rumors had it that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan would soon be replaced by the Slumdog Millionaire chick, Freida Pinto as the new face of cosmetic firm L’Oreal Paris.

However, a denial has come from the officials of L’Oreal Paris, “We are shocked and surprised to read in some sections of the media/press about Ms. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan being replaced as the face of L’Oreal Paris,” said an official statement from the firm.

These rumors cropped when Ms Pinto was seen featuring in the L’Oreal Paris New Year 2011′s commercial ad.

“L’Oreal Paris strongly reiterates that this is absolutely untrue and that Ms. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan continues to be our valued spokesperson, as she has since 2000. While she remains an integral part of the L’Oreal Paris worldwide Dream Team, she was unfortunately unavailable for our New Year commercial shoot due to prior commitments,” the statement added.

The statement also made it clear that since Ash was busy with her prior commitments, she wasn’t able to make it for the shoots of the commercial ad of New Year.

Praising the beauty, the statement added, “She (Ash) is one of the most iconic women of our times and is certainly the face of L’Oreal Paris internationally and in India for a range of products,”

Cricket celebrity MS Dhoni has been dropped from endorsing Aircel’s latest social networking handset INQ

Cricket celebrity MS Dhoni has been dropped from endorsing Aircel’s latest social networking handset INQ. The latest move came after the celebrity cricketer was seen promoting two mobile handsets from two different brands at the same time.Mumbai-based company Maxx Mobile Communications has asked Aircel to pull off the commercial after seeing the controversial advertisement. “We have communicated our stand to Mindscapes Maestros, the agency that manages Dhoni, asking them to discontinue the advertisement which has Dhoni endorsing INQ handset as it breaches category exclusivity in the handsets space,” said Mir K Rasool, marketing head, Maxx mobile.

Aircel is promoting the social networking handset INQ in partnership with the UK-based social networking handset maker INQ Mobile. “MS Dhoni is our brand ambassador for Aircel. Therefore, he endorses all products and services for Aircel. However, when we were informed by MS Dhoni’s agent that he is endorsing Maxx for IPL, keeping the sensitivity.