Celebrities are seen as public figures and their actions make a huge impact on the minds of viewers. Brands know this fact and they use celebs for attracting customers. Celebrity endorsements are often very costly but the impact the benefits brands get from this form of marketing can’t be ignored. Along with having multiple positives, there are few cases when celebrity endorsements backfired the brand and were opposed by the audience. You can take a look at some of the instances when small mistakes in choosing appropriate brand representer made companies lose reputation and some of these even faced legal issues.
1. Akshay Kumar: Levi’s
Akshay Kumar and the brand Levi’s had to face criticism in the year 2009 when he walked on the ramp at the Lakme Fashion Show and asked his wife Twinkle Khanna to unbutton his denim to promote the tagline of Levis. Both Akshay Kumar and the company had to face legal issues due to this act and the actor later declared this as a spontaneous act which wasn’t performed with any other intention.
2. Aamir Khan: Snapdeal
After Aamir Khan’s sayings about feeling insecure in India, Snapdeal got a very negative response on social media as he was the brand ambassador of Snapdeal at that time. Users even rated the e-commerce app with 1 star to show their protests. This controversy had a huge impact on the image of Snapdeal in the Indian market and the officials kept their calm and didn’t speak anything against Aamir. Later, Snapdeal didn’t extend their deal with Aamir Khan for promotions.
3. Shane Warne: Nicorette
Australian former leg-spinner Shane Warne was seen smoking a puff in a Barbados bar and this created problems for Nicorette which is a company that manufactures nicotine substitute. Nicorette was quick to end the $200,000 deal with Shane Warne. All this happened just a few days before the contract between Warne and Nicorette was about to end.
4. Martina Hingis: Sergio Tacchini
The endorsement deal between Martina Hingis and Italian sportswear brand Sergio Tacchini proved disastrous for both the brand and the celebrity. Hingis signed a deal worth $5.6 million with Sergio Tacchini for five years and when Tacchini realized that Hingis wasn’t wearing his gear he fired her. In response Hingis sued Sergio Tacchini with a $40 million lawsuit, claiming Tacchini’s shoes were the culprit for ankle injuries that affected her tennis career.
5. Swara Bhaskar: Amazon
One such incident that happened recently was of Amazon-Swara Bhaskar. Swara was chosen for promoting Amazon on Twitter and this campaign generated massive backlash for the e-commerce giant. This happened due to the negative reactions that Swara got for her comments on Kathua rape case. Amazon tried to solve the issue by deleting the post in which they retweeted Swara’s tweet. This didn’t happen to be the complete solution and #BoycottAmazon was one of the top trends in the country at that time.
Because of such incidents, modern-day brands always have a fear of being associated with a celebrity who may have personal views that could act in opposition to what a brand wants to portray.
