Are Celebrities Responsible When the Product They Endorse Fail Quality Test?

Introduction

There has been a growing trend in which many celebrities have been brought in to endorse the products manufactured by multinational companies. The celebrities come and endorse these products with a good intention that the common man would get health benefits from them. The television channels and radio broadcasters then make air them to reach the maximum number of people across the country. The issue is that the products were of good quality, posing no threat to the general public at the time of the endorsement. The endorsement should not be long-lasting as these products need to be tested periodically in reputed labs to ensure their quality. In the current scenario, the endorsements made decades ago are still being used to get the attention of people. Hence, the celebrities should not be held responsible for the endorsements done by them many years ago.

 

Product Endorsements

Products manufactured by the multinational companies need to get marketed to reach the common man. He needs to be educated about their best side to convince him to buy them. Every year, crores of rupees are spent on marketing and endorsements. There is a product marketing department for all the multinational companies. Yet, these companies go for the product endorsements by the popular stars from tinsel town to seek the attention of ordinary people. The stars of the cinema world endorse these products after taking some money from the companies with the belief that the products indeed have the qualities claimed by them. The stars don’t have at their disposal an expert opinion to verify these claims.

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Are the Celebrities Responsible for Product Debacle?

In good times, Nestle products such as Maggi Noodles used to go off the shelves of retail outlets just like hot cakes. At that time nobody questioned the quality of these products. Hence, the celebrities came forward to endorse them in good faith. With the change in times, the situation changed. Many of the endorsements were done years back. Recently, Preity Zinta shot back when the issues with Nestle products snowballed into a big controversy. She told the media guys that she did the endorsement about 12 years back when the product quality was good. Hence, she should be absolved of these charges. Similar views aired by other actors who endorsed the Nestle products. They are Amitabh Bachchan and Madhuri Dixit.

Should there be Time Limit for Endorsements?

There should be a time limit for the product endorsements done by the popular people. This would help them to remain in good stead when the products endorsed by them fail to comply with the required standards many years later. This view gets significance in light of the present controversy involving the Nestle products such as Maggi Noodles, Kurkure, etc. These products have been reported to have failed the tests prescribed the government. Hence, the government should bring in legislation to ensure that the older product endorsements have lapsed after a specific period. The companies need to get the certificate from the competent authorities on the product quality before they go for product endorsement and marketing.