Would any corporate stand for a brand ambassador who publically thrashes the brand?
The major outrage of the day was when we found out that Aamir Khan was no longer a mascot for the government’s Incredible India campaign.
Actually it went a little differently.
First Amit Malviya, BJP's national IT and SM vibhag, tweeted that Aamir Khan was no longer an ambassador of Incredible India. Then the ministry issued a vague statement in response to news reports on the government's answer to a RTI query on the issue.
"In response to certain news reports appearing in the media, about Aamir Khan, the Ministry of Tourism clarifies that there is no change in the stand of the ministry in this matter... The Ministry further clarifies that at present it has a contractual agreement with creative agency McCann Worldwide to produce social awareness campaign and the said campaign featured Aamir Khan," the ministry statement said.
Later, Union Tourism Minister Dr Mahesh Sharma said: “Our contract was with the McCann Worldwide agency for 'Atithi Devo Bhava' campaign. The agency had hired Aamir for the job. Now the contract with the agency is over. Ministry has not hired Aamir. It was the agency which has hired him. Since the contract with the agency is no more, automatically the arrangement with the actor no longer exists.” When specifically whether Aamir was still the brand ambassador for the Tourism Ministry, the minister said, "Definitely not".
Now before a couple of writers return their awards, we have to understand that Aamir Khan wasn’t hired by the government of India. 'Atithi Devo Bhava' campaign was part of the Incredible India campaign and was launched by the UPA government. Sharma said the contract for Rs 2.96 crore with McCann Worldwide agency was now over.
Did Aamir Khan deserve to be Incredible India ambassador?
Now let’s not get into the debate whether you believe that there has been rising intolerance under the current government. A systematic study is needed to come to a conclusion on the matter. Violence of all kinds need to be equally condemned, whether it’s in Malda or Dadri. Sadly, that’s not the world we live in, and we often get blown away by media narrative which in turn is controlled by various forces. The media does look to create a narrative and there are people who are still not able to fathom that this government is in power.
Was Aamir Khan wrong to speak out? Probably not, because that’s his viewpoint. But I find it very hard to believe that someone from that particular world of privilege is feeling threatened. On the other hand, a democracy needs voices of dissent and the abuse Aamir Khan faced is completely wrong. No one has any right to ask him or his family to go to Pakistan (this was before the PM dropped in and going to Pakistan was still an insult), but surely he realises that India is quite incredible as a melting pot of multiple cultures.
Now questions are being asked about whether Aamir has been removed for his comments on ‘intolerance’. While we might never know the truth, the fact remains, would one want an ambassador who trashes the brand? Would any corporate stand for an actor endorsing a soft drink, who publicly trashes the brand, claiming it causes diabetes? Or how about an actor who endorses a set-top box and then trashes its service?
No corporate will stand for that and that’s the same for India. The government probably doesn’t want an ambassador who trashes their own brand. Is that fair? Probably not, but that’s how market forces work. And there’s nothing intolerant about the market.
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