Amitabh Bachchan and Pepsico India: Child Questions – Childish Response?

Amitabh Bachchan and PepsiCo India: Child Questions – Childish Response?

“A celeb can’t de-endorse a brand he/she has backed in the past on the basis of a comment someone else has made, unless he/she can back the claim with proof.”

– Vinita Bangard, Founder-Managing Director, Krossover Entertainment Private Limited

“I don’t think celebrities have the power to be custodians of brand quality. Celebs endorse brands only for commercial reasons.”

– Shailendra Singh, Joint Managing Director, Percept Limited

On January 30^th 2014, a usual interactive session at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) turned out to be an unusual one, for two reasons – first, because the speaker was Bollywood’s⁶ legend and Indian actor, Amitabh Bachchan (Bachchan); and second, the lecture (Q&A session) stirred a controversy in the Indian advertising industry, when Bachchan made a remark about PepsiCo India’s (PepsiCo) soft drink – a brand that he had endorsed for 8 years. Recounting an earlier interaction with a child who questioned, why he was endorsing for a product (brand) that her school teacher opined to be a poison, Bachchan shared with IIMA students how that triggered his decision to disassociate from Pepsi brand.

The incident left PepsiCo’s management, industry veterans and other stakeholders wondering why Bachchan, who has a cult following in the country, made such remarks. After being the brand endorser for 8 years, the sudden public revelation about it created ripples in the Indian advertising industry, damaging Pepsi’s brand equity in particular and carbonated drinks in general. While the actor opined that the act was driven by his due diligence (after being questioned by the child) and conscience, experts wondered whether this was the result of Pepsi’s decision against renewing Bachchan’s endorsement contract. While few support Bachchan’s revelation as they see it as an act of social responsibility, the incident raised questions in the advertising industry regarding the fiduciary/moral responsibility of brand endorsers towards the endorsed brands...............

PepsiCo’s Brand Endorsers in India

PepsiCo is a global food and beverage company, headquartered in Purchase, New York, US, with net revenues of more than $65 billion and 22 brands – including Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Lay’s, Gatorade, Tropicana, 7 Up, Doritos, Lipton Tea, Quaker Foods, Cheetos, Mirinda, Ruffles, Aquafina, Pepsi Max, Tostitos, Sierra Mist, Fritos and Walkers. Since its origin in the 1880s (founded by Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist), the soft drink maker, by March 2014, grew to become the second largest food and beverage company in the world in terms of net revenues with presence in more than 200 countries including India. It also ranked 25^th in the Forbes list of the most valuable brands in 2013.............

Amitabh Bachchan and PepsiCo India: Bonhomie to Bewilderment

Amitabh Bachchan, (popularly known as Big B), is an Indian actor who first gained popularity as the ‘angry young man’ in the early 1970s. During the 1980s, he became one of the greatest and the most influential actors of the Indian cinema. On July 26^th 1982, he had a near fatal intestinal injury while filming a fight sequence for the movie Coolie, and was hospitalized for several months. Prayers were offered in temples and mosques all over the country and there were long queues of well-wishing fans outside the hospital...........

Brands, Brand Endorsement and Brand Consumers: The New Roles of Engagement?

In the world of celebrity endorsements, it usually happens that brands dump the celebrity. For instance, Nike dropped Lance Armstrong, Accenture severed ties with Tiger Woods and Thums Up dropped its brand ambassador Salman Khan (signed again in October 2012). Is industry witnessing a reversal in trend? On January 29^th 2014, Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson (Johansson) had to choose between, an Israeli fizzy drinks company, SodaStream International’s (SodaStream) Ad and being a global brand ambassador for Oxfam, an anti-poverty organization that objects to SodaStream’s plant in the West Bank settlement...........

Exhibits

Exhibit I: PepsiCo’s Brands and Brand Endorsers in India

Exhibit II: Pepsi’s Brand Ranking

Exhibit III: PepsiCo’s Campaigns/Taglines in India

Exhibit IV: Pepsi’s Successful Advertising Campaigns in India

Exhibit V: Comparative Test Performance Score of Carbonated Beverages

Amitabh Bachchan and PepsiCo India: Child Questions – Childish Response?

In January 2014, Amitabh Bachchan (Bachchan), an Indian film actor, during an interactive session with the students of IIM-A, mentioned that he had stopped endorsing Pepsi because a schoolgirl questioned, why he was endorsing for a product (brand) that her school teacher opined to be a poison. This stirred a controversy in the Indian advertising industry. The statement left the company’s stakeholders and industry observers wondering why a person of Bachchan’s stature would make such a comment, after endorsing the brand for 8 years. Was Bachchan right in doing so?  Has Bachchan failed in his moral responsibility? Should companies rethink about using celebrity brand endorsers? What could be the impact on PepsiCo and Bachchan? While some supported Bachchan’s act considering it social responsibility, many opined that it was not morally correct on his part. This case study explores the relationship between a brand and its brand endorser and most importantly enables an interesting debate on the fiduciary responsibility of the brand endorser.

Pedagogical Objectives

• -To discuss and debate on the appropriateness and the desirability of Amitabh Bachchan’s public revelation of the reasons that have prompted him to disassociate himself from Pepsi’s brand endorsement
• -To analyze the impact of Amitabh Bachchan’s disassociation from Pepsi brand in India from the standpoint of Pepsi’s business prospects in India and his endorsement potential
• -To debate on the moral (fiduciary) responsibility of a brand endorser towards the endorsed brands

Positioning and Setting

This case study can be used in the following courses:

• a)      Advertising and Sales Promotion course – The Choice of Celebrity and Celebrity Endorsement
• b)      Brand Management course –  Brand-Brand Endorser Fit and Fiduciary Responsibilities of Brand Endorsers

.............................

Exhibits

Exhibit (TN)-I: Ranking Methodology of the Ranking Institutions

Exhibit (TN)-II: Pepsi-Brand Endorser Fit

Exhibit (TN)-III: Amitabh Bachchan-Pepsi Brand Fit

Exhibit (TN)-IV: Impact of Amitabh Bachchan’s Revelations