Advertising campaigns featuring multiple stars may soon be passé. A recent trend seems to suggest that the days of an ensemble star cast in ads are over. Most leading actors have started refusing ads with a multiple star cast because they want to go solo to retain their brand value.
Industry sources say Katrina Kaif is the one responsible for starting this trend after she constantly refused offers for ads with Salman Khan.
When we got in touch with Katrina, she said, “We will not have any ads together in the near future. This is something we are not looking at this point.”
Even a senior adman confirmed this fact. “A few months ago, when Salman signed an ad, we requested Katrina to speak to him about starring in the same ad. But she was not interested. Even after we made her a better offer, she didn’t seem interested at all,” he said.
Earlier, ad campaigns featuring couples in a relationship used to be among the most lucrative deals in Bollywood. Bipasha Basu and John Abraham featured in quite a few ads together. They were followed by Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, and Abhi-Ash. But now only cricket players are ready for an ensemble star cast.
A source said, “Even John and Bipasha, who were ready to take up ads together, have now gone ahead and signed only solo ads.”
Even Saif and Kareena are thinking about appearing together in an ad for a soft drink manufacturer because it is worth around Rs30 crore.
“If they sign it then they will do it as an exception. Both of them have their individual brands and both want to have it that way. They used to star in some big brands together (like a satellite TV company) but then that was during recession. Now that it is over, multiple star casts in ads are over too,” said another insider.
Comments
