I was devastated to see Indian Cricketing sensation Virat Kohli endorsing Johnnie Walker through a surrogate Advertisement in the front page of The Times Of India dt. Fr. 27 March 2026.
The product is JW Luxe Water. Really, Viru?
Yes, he has the right to choose the category / brand that he wishes to advertise.
But when you have millions of youth following you - professionally and personally - is it morally right to endorse, even surrogately, a liquor brand?
A few years ago, MS Dhoni did the same by endorsing SNJ, a popular brand of beer sold exclusively at Tamil Nadu Government operated TASMAC liquor retail stores.
TASMAC is estimated to report revenues of INR 50,000 Cr through 4,787 shops across Tamil Nadu and is one of the key revenue sources for the state.
The product that MSD endorsed was SNJ Sugar.
But Really?
There was much furore recently that Actor Ajith Kumar endorsed CAMPA COLA for his sporting business Ajith Kumar Racing. His ardents fans, including your’s truly wondered if he would feed the beverage to his son, let alone consuming it for real in the ad.
For years, Sachin Tendulkar and others have been endorsing Boost Energy Drink, though one wonders whether they consume the sugary drink in real life.
In his latest outing Coolie, Superstar Rajinikanth is seen consuming alcohol on screen after 23 years - the last was in the film Baba which released in the year 2002.
Are celebrities allowed to endorse any every brand / product / category?
I personally feel let down by scores of such celebrities who endorse products which are not good for health and promote obesity, unhelthy consumption of tobacco and liqour products.
What’s you take on this?
