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Are celeb ambassadors effective in social campaigns ?
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Sheetal Patel | Mumbai Lines from a new TVC scripted by Prasoon Joshi, directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and delivered by Bollywood's little big man, Aamir Khan seems to be incredible. For the uninitiated, Aamir has played out his role as brand ambassador for Incredible India's Atithi Devo Bhavah (Guest is God) campaign. Aamir Khan In recent times, the thinking star has been popularly perceived as a caring, sensitive, responsible and socially aware individual who, with his iconic presence can make a difference in altering beliefs, attitudes and mindset relating to causes and concerns, in the public domain. Be that as it may, do celeb brand ambassadors, help further the cause they push? Are they really effective, credible and represent the mission played out or is it more audience driven, more entertaining than purposeful? Lets for a moment, look westwards. How about starting with the hottest of the hot, Angelina Jolie. Forever inspiring stories like 'Brangelina Fever Grips London' or 'Why Armed Guards Stormed Their Bedroom', Jolie has been a Goodwill Ambassador with the United Nations for ages. She always pays her way and her work with the refugee commission is simply amazing. On international issues, Jolie is said to have more clout than many UN diplomats. "I see Angelina as the perfect humanitarian advocate. She brings an immense amount of international focus, but she never seeks to use it for her own benefit. On the contrary she transfers the spotlight directly to civic society advocates and makes them more powerful, effective and result-driven". That was Gavin Simpson, a key member of the activist group – Witness, who worked closely with Jolie during her visit to the West African country, Sierra Leone. Other notables from Hollywood include Audrey Hepburn (UN) Danny Kaye (UNICEF) Humphrey Bogart, Bono, Sean Penn and a host of others. What about the celebrity activism, vis-à-vis brand ambassador scene in India? Well, there's the famous Big B for Polio, Koena Mitra for children's orphanages, Shilpa Shetty for animal rights, Preity Zinta, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, along with a host of others. Leena Nandan, joint secretary, Ministry of Tourism, says that the Incredible India campaigns are aimed at social awareness and mass sensitisation through the celebrity route. She adds that the Aamir Khan TVCs and print campaigns will run till March this year and Rs 10 crore has been set aside for the said period. Subsequently, there will be a new media plan and a new set of commercials. Film-maker Muzaffar Ali believes that the credibility of the celebrity association depends on the "sensibilities connect." If that synergy is missing, it is at best, at work, mockery. He cites the case of Big B's stint as BA of Uttar Pradesh. Did it work? "Here was a superstar, living and working out of Mumbai, suddenly waxing poetic about UP. How on earth could it ever strike target?" Regarding Aamir, there is credibility, due to the image and sensibilities connect. "The man, his persona and the cause he is espousing fuse. Conviction and track record is the key. No star or celeb can act out this role. They can't fake it." Ali says. Santosh Desai, CEO, Future Group, looks at it differently. "Let's not get cute, coy and pretend. Most social sector advertising is largely cosmetic and tokenism and there is no real, focused effort to make a change." Desai explains what he believes is the 'politics' behind Public Service Advertising. "There is this popular belief that since it is an important cause, important people must say something about it, denounce it or at least play some role in it. They fall back on the tired cliché of 'when celebs talk, people listen'. They may listen but do they hear, react and act as told to?" The other problem, Desai says, relates to the fact that these biggies are doing it for 'free'. In short, the aura, hungama, myth and buzz around it frequently overtake the action, totally defeating the purpose. At the end of the day, one thing is clear: Celebrities open doors and to deny their clout in the popular culture space is to be dumb and in-denial mode. They definitely bring a very special buzz to the cause they espouse and if they are the right person – respected, committed, informed and involved – they have no substitute. - Televisionpoint.com
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