The plot thickens

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: There was a time when actors on the small screen were seen as the poor cousins of those gracing the big screen. Then the boundary lines started blurring. Models turned into big time matinee idols, erstwhile ad film makers started directing Hindi movies and delivering big box-office hits. Amitabh Bachchan, the high priest of Bollywood, finally blessed the small screen with his BPL and then KBC appearance and it opened up the floodgates for Bollywood. Flop, shunted, unsuccessful, cool, not-so-cool tinsel-town merchants found great marketing sense to get themselves associated with the brand world. They suddenly realised that when their latest releases stumble at the box office, a cough syrup ad here or a innerwear film there could keep them firmly planted in junta memory.

Thus, over the years, they found a new cash-rich part-time role for themselves—commonly referred to as that of brand ambassadors. And once brands started sponsoring movies, the brand world became their favourite hunting ground. They have started appearing with such frequency that time has probably come to ask the question whether they are really adding value to the brands they are championing or creating confusion in the limited memory space of highly distracted consumers.

Today a celebrity is seen anywhere and everywhere except at his own work place. The top notch of them appear in countless categories of products. One finds them in almost all branded programmes—be it as a guest/ anchor, interviewer, spectator, performer or even a judge. In commercial breaks of the same show you will again see them endorsing brands of toothpaste, mobile phone, toilet soap, television etc. And if that is not enough, right in the middle of the show they will introduce their soon-to-be-released films along with other media partners/ brands who either co-sponsor their movies, cricket teams , reality shows and talk shows or simply make an appearance for moral support.

Talking about excesses, look at what they are doing in ads these days. Four Aamirs are riding the same car, two Shah Rukhs are engaged in a conversation inside a lift, and an Amitabh Bachchan and his ectoplasmic self are conspiring to get into a girl’s body to have chocolates. Twin Akshay Kumars are climbing walls to grab soft drink bottles, that too without putting their feet down on God’s zamin.