Actor Shah Rukh Khan believes that endorsing different brands has helped him to take risks in his film career by giving him an alternate source of income.
“...if I have done ten good films in my career, the reason is that I did not pay attention to earning money through films. Advertising sustained me...it helped me concentrate on films, which is true even today. I can go out and make the most expensive film in the country, knowing that God forbid, if something goes wrong, I can fall back on another business source,” the Bollywood star said.
Asked about the responsibility that lies with the brand ambassador, Mr. Khan said: “There is a certain amount of integrity that every person has. It varies and I don’t stand in judgement. I think I have a normal sense of integrity that means if I am recommending something I must have enjoyed using it or liked it.”
‘Two-edged sword’
Stating that he had been fortunate that many of the brands he had endorsed were already proven brands, that stood for quality, Mr. Khan said he might know the basic of the products he endorsed, but not the full technical details. “...you have to indemnify me beyond that...Its a two-edged sword. Sometimes your product is enhancing your face value, sometimes your face value is enhancing the brand.”
“I do get interested in knowing if something is not good...I think all of us, we don’t want something we recommend to turn out bad. I must have endorsed 100-200 products at any given period in last 10 years, more or less they have been okay.”
He said while there were things such as cigarettes and alcohol that he did not endorse, “but if Signature Series calls me to give a lecture on success and life to youngsters, I will take it because surrogacy is allowed. I am not telling you to drink. That is not a loophole but mode of operations for many businesses.”
On his 20-year association with Hyundai, Mr. Khan said he took it for granted that he would be the company’s brand ambassador till the time the brand is there. Asked about what he would want Hyundai to work on, he said, he would request the company to make a “jeep kind of model... big wheels, just openness..., like the one I had in one of the songs from Jab Tak Hai Jaan ”.
Mr. Khan, who would someday like to enter the education space to teach about acting and film making, believes that going forward the deals in advertising would be shorter. “Just like everything else, the period for engagement for ambassadors or models will shorten,” the actor added.
“The association will be shorter, and also more interactive... because if it hasn't already, advertising will shift towards digitisation...a lot of your personal spaces will be asked for. For example in the last 5 years, I must have refused at least 10 advertising campaigns that wanted to through my Twitter. I handle my own account...it depends on how you see it. I will, for example, lose business. So, it will be more digital, more interactive, lesser terms... payments will be more frequent and less.”
