A TV commercial can land your favourite TV celebrity in 'JAIL'!
Celebs to face a jail term of up to 5 years and a fine of Rs 50 lakh for endorsing misleading advertisements.
Published: Thursday,Sep 08, 2016 15:57 PM GMT-06:00
The government is planning to introduce a new consumer protection law, according to which, a jail term of up to 5 years and a fine of Rs 50 lakh for celebrities endorsing misleading advertisements.
We got in touch with a few actors and asked them whether it's justified or not?
It's the responsibility of an actor to endorse only the genuine products, instead of doing misleading ads like, 'Ye cream lagaane se aap 1 hafte mein gore hoo jayege' or 'Ye herbal tea peene se aap 10 din mein ghata sakte hai 5 kg's tak vajan'. In my opinion, asking an actor to pay hefty penalty or putting them behind the bar is not a good idea. In lieu of this, we should ban the product and ask the manufacturer to pay the fine.
To be very frank, apart from the brand, money plays an important role before I decided to endorse any product. But, my dad (who is a teacher) had always taught me, money is not everything, so usually I check the background of the manufacturer and product. I even google the ingredients of the product and if I found it has some harmful chemical then I refuse to endorse it. I also check if the claims which the product does are practical or not.
'Ekk Nayi Pehchaan' and 'Mohi' fame actor Karan Sharma has shared screen space with Bollywood icons like Madhuri Dixit, Anushka Sharma, and Kareena Kapoor: 
Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta were dragged to the court after monosodium glutamate (MSG) was found in popular noodles brand, which they had promoted. I don't think it's them to be blamed in such cases. We actors usually do not go into all the technicalities of the product, they just check the brand and whether its harmful or not.
After the two-minute noodles controversy, I started looking at the ingredients of the product. If I feel the product genuinely doesn't serve the purpose, I avoid promoting them. If possible, I try to use the product. Like I actually brought Godrej Aer Twist car air freshener before endorsing it.
It's a dog-eat-dog world and we sometimes take shots for the money. If the ad is misleading, then brands should be held responsible, not the actor. We are actors, we just act and get paid for it. That's it.
Janbaaz Sindbad actor Harsh Rajput, who is currently seen as Prakash in 'Saath Nibhaana Saathiya':
No one wants to be misled in life, and no one wishes to mislead anyone. In my view, if the government puts a fine on celebrities, it will not make anyone change the quality of the product. Strict actions should be taken against the companies who are making these products. Before signing for endorsement, I check whether the product is useful to me or to the people around me. The one rule I have set for myself is to never endorse cigarettes or gutka or any product which is harmful to me and others.
When the product is launched, the manufacturers must have proper permissions from the government bodies, then only they should be able to launch their product. Celebrities are endorsing the product, it's not their call to get into the legal formalities of what all has been used in the product.
Celebrity endorses a brand in clean faith and the brand value. Celebrities being jailed is not the solution. I think the government needs to look at strict rules of guidelines on launching a product so that a consumer gets value for money. Because as per the law, the products are launched only after getting certificates from the government. If they are giving certificates, we are believing that the product is safe. It is the government who is at fault. Why issue certificates to faulty products? Is corruption being the reason behind it?
There are a lot of factors one thinks of before endorsing a product. For example, the brand, the content of the ad, treatment, the team involved, money, etc. And of course, there are do's and dont's on a personal level. Actors only do their job, so holding them responsible is not justified. On the flip side, I feel censor board should verify the ad content before it makes any claims in the market.
I don't think it's justified. As actors, it's our job to act convincingly on any given script. If there is anyone to be blamed, it should be the product owner or the company, because their claims aren't genuine. Quality research should be done at the base level. Celebs are brought in only for marketing, so it's completely unjustified to charge them for doing their job well.
What do you think about the entire scenario?
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Comments (7)
Putting up complete blame on actors is wrong. After all the actors can do is research upon the product and nothing else. But then if you are a big celebrity a role model then you have some responsibility towards the society. Just by saying the 2 minutes noodles is healthy you are tending to make many buy it. If you know that thing is under scanner as Maggi noodles were years before it got banned...don't you think celebs should refrain themselves from advertising then. Commercials make up a difference so if not full then at least half blame will go to the actors. Coming to the fine its too much...but it will only make celebs think before praising a product and blindly accepting the commercial that comes their way.
8 years ago
Agree with what dheerajdhoopar said...y actors 2 b blamed always..1st charge the company owners nd sm govt. Authorities who test nd approve illegal brands 2 promoto...even aftr knowing that the product is banned by govt. Like Maggie, if actors promote then thy shld be charged... Keep rocking Dheerajdhoopar Love ur acting soo much Ur looking awesome in ur recent dabour honey add
8 years ago
Jo Ads hi nhi karte unka opinion le rahe hai phew They shld hv asked: Kapil, Sakshi etc Aur actors ke naam yaad nhi :P
8 years ago
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8 years ago
janaa na dil se door Jana na dil sent door Jana na dil se door rocksss
8 years ago
Agree actors & models have some social responsibility & they should abide by them. Missing you in Kumkum Bhagya Ankit Mohan.
8 years ago
If its true then Yami Gautam sud be d 1st to be thrown in jail for her Fair & Lovely advertisement. I used all varients of Fair & Lovely but it did not fade away my dark spots let alone making my skin lighter. In fact, it wud make my skin more oily. Nowadays, weneva her ad comes I get angry at her for fooling people.
8 years ago