Just another ad one would have assumed enlivened with Khan hamming the line Lux meri khoobsoorti ka raaz hai... tongue-in-cheek and full of himself. Every man’s fantasy one would assume. But not quite. “King Khan or Queen Khan?” fumes a blogger on an advertising website. A woman I think. “Is this the new metrosexuality?” ask earnest media commentators. “Why is Lux changing to a brand for men?” ask irate male consumers?

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I like Shah Rukh Khan because he is the only hero who looks as if he enjoys doing ads and being from advertising I think that is a good thing. The commercial in question has gotten more than it deserves. It is not a great commercial. Come to think of it, it is not a good commercial either. The art direction and the setting are cliched. Seventy-five years later get a more interesting bath tub at least!

I am not even sure the idea is original. Paul Newman did a Lux commercial internationally; but I haven’t seen it so I can’t compare the two. Because there is no high point in the script, the casting of Khan is really what works for the ad. In a convoluted sort of a way since men seem to be threatened by the ad and women don’t seem to want to yield their beauty secrets to a man.

I don’t think the word metrosexual, much ban-died about in media featured in the planner’s brief either. On the other hand, maybe metrosexuality is a good thing. We don’t want girlie-boys but imagine a hairy-chested hero in a bath tub with roses. Eeek!

There have been brands that have made the gender shift in the past but they were consciously trying to. Marlboro was a women’s brand and was considered totally effeminate because it had a filter tip. It even changed the colour of the filter to red to prevent women being self conscious about leaving lipstick stains on the tip.

All that changed when filters became acceptable on men’s cigarettes and Marlboro saw the enormous potential in the male market. Virility without vulgarity was the clear-cut brief to the agency and the change worked. Marlboro country became the fantasyland where men who wanted to be macho could retreat to in a haze of smoke whenever they wanted.

Harley Davidson, on the other hand, threatened by sleeker Japanese bikes, tried to position Harley for women bikers but the loyal male consumers rejected the campaign. They wanted their Harley big, macho and male.

Lux, on the other hand, seems rather confused. I am surprised women have not raised their voices on this obvious pandering to male appreciation. Lux has always been a brand where the woman is star—Goddess. It is a fantasy that women have liked. We are in the business of fantasy.

This fawning over a male Bollywood icon by established female Bollywood icons is a shift that has taken away some of the fantasy. For men and women. Men can no longer lust for their favorite stars because Shah Rukh got there first. And women can no longer fantasise that they are the Goddess star when the attention is on Shah Rukh. And if bigger female stars have been reduced to props then they don’t stand a chance.

If this was meant to be a spoof and a tongue-in-cheek take, the director simply did not hold it well enough. That is the real issue with Lux, metrosexuality and androgyny be damned.

The author is CEO, Paradigm Shift, and creative advisor, Saatchi & Saatchi