Company Wars Through Celebrities: Very often companies take a dig at each other through their celebrities. These tactics can dilute the image of the celebrities in question and the brand itself. It has happened with Pepsi's Sharukh Khan taking a dig at Hritik Roshan who endorsed Coke.

Incongruity Between Brand and Celebrity: Sometimes the only purpose of celebrity endorsements might be to increase the perceived status of the company or to make an announcement about its presence. So while Adidas sponsoring the German football team is a perfect connect (since the jerseys and footballs are manufactured by Adidas), Samsung sponsoring the Indian cricket team has no congruence and brand connect. These would at the most aid top of the mind recall for a short duration.

Irresponsible Advertising: Some celebrities endorse products which are socially acceptable or permissible in the direct form by law. So you would find Sunny Deol, Akshay Kumar, Shatrughan Sinha once the health minister endorsing for Bagpiper 'soda'. These celebrities are used to portray a macho image about the brand which might be helpful for boosting awareness and sales of these brands and encourage people to drink to be 'manly' like their heroes. There have been deaths as a result of people trying the dares shown in the Thumsup ads featuring Salman Khan. Again a product trying to project a manly, grown-up image by using an action star.

Case: Luxury Watches and Celebrities - A Natural Synergy

In the past decade, the market in India for the luxury watch segment has steadily grown and top of the line brands the world over have largely made an impact with their brand ambassadors. This is an interesting case in question, since the individual goes beyond the usual print and visual media.

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* Contributed by: -
Bikram Bindra & Kaushik Vijay. G,
Faculty of Management Studies,
University of Delhi, New Delhi.