President’s call puts spotlight on celebrity endorsements of harmful products
The President, said popular artists, particularly those who influence children and young people, should promote disciplined lifestyles and refrain from endorsing substances harmful to health
President Droupadi Murmu has called for tighter regulation of celebrity endorsements of harmful products, following Maharashtra's action against a Vimal Elaichi advertisement featuring Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Tiger Shroff. Public health experts have raised concerns that such endorsements can create socially acceptable imagery for products associated with tobacco, areca nut, and other harmful substances, particularly among younger audiences.
The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration has issued show-cause notices to the three actors in the advertisement, alleging that it amounts to surrogate advertising for Vimal Pan Masala, a product whose manufacture, storage, transportation, distribution, and sale are prohibited in Maharashtra. The issue has also reached the courts, with the Delhi High Court declining to entertain a challenge to the FDA notices on territorial-jurisdiction grounds.
Public health advocates argue that celebrity endorsements can give socially acceptable imagery to harmful products, and calls for a clear legal framework covering the endorsement and advertising of such products are gaining momentum.
Brief written by urgent.news from The Hindu's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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