Kamla Pasand has recently onboarded former Indian cricketers- Virender Sehwag and Sunil Gavaskar as its endorsers. As a result, the icons featured in the IPL ads of the brand, which are airing both on Jio Cinema and Star Sports.
Notably, this is the first time that any of the cricketers have associated with a pan masala brand for an endorsement deal, unlike Bollywood celebrities such as Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan, just to name a few.
Prior to Gavaskar and Sehwag, it was Amitabh Bachchan and Ranveer Singh who endorsed Kamla Pasand last year. However, Bachchan had decided to take a step back and withdraw himself from the ad campaign after the public furore which started post its airing
Likewise, this year’s IPL ads of Kamla Pasand have also sorely disappointed the public.
Sharing his point of view on the recent Kamla Pasand ad featuring Gavaskar and Sehwag, a Twitter user mentioned, “Dear, Sunil Gavaskar and Virendra Sehwag, 2 different generations consider you idols, get inspired from you and whatever you have achieved, promoting cancerous pan masala at this age of life is so shameful, all this just for some money? “
Dear, Sunil Gavaskar and Virendra Sehwag ,
2 different generations consider you idols, get inspired from you and whatever you have achieved, promoting cancerous pan masala at this age of life is so shameful, all this just for some money? #KKRvsGT pic.twitter.com/l8Q0kYTPjO
— Roshan Rai (@RoshanKrRaii) April 29, 2023
Dear Viru bhai, 2 days back you won my heart after supporting our wrestlers.
And today I saw you and greatest Sunny bhai in Kamla Pasand ad, can’t tell you how disappointed I was. Wish you can make all the wealth of the world. Pls don’t promote such injurious items to our youth. pic.twitter.com/S1uCugSxpE— Anoop Singh (@anoopshaashtra) April 30, 2023
So disappointing to see Sunny Gavaskar and Sehwag pushing Kamla Pasand…
Along with the Khans, Akshay Kumar etc. surely they could have sacrificed some income and avoided endorsing (a surrogate for) an obviously harmful product. #CricketTwitter
— Neeran Karnik (@neeran) May 1, 2023
Pained by the move, another Twitterati wrote, “1st filmmakers and now our sporting / cricketing icons are promoting mouth cancer. Saddened and pained to see two of the greatest cricketing icons appear in an advertisement for #KamlaPasand.”
1st filmmakers and now our sporting / cricketing icons are promoting mouth cancer. Saddened and pained to see two of the greatest cricketing icons appear in an advertisement for #KamlaPasand. @virendersehwag and #SunilGavaskar क्या कारन है कि आप दोनों भी इस जहर का प्रचार…
— Rakesh K Singh राकेश कुमार सिंह (@advocaterakesh9) April 30, 2023
Do these Cricket legends realise what in actual they're promoting in this youth-centric era?#kamlapasand#sunilgavaskar#virupaji
I'm sad but haven't expected this from sportspersons.
They're my Idols and this is really not a partnership that they should do pic.twitter.com/idgDDahzqv— Aakash Singh. (@ask2art) May 1, 2023
Sunil Gavaskar in kamla pasand ad that's the last thing I expected ?
Bruh @nihalcaptures— Thehrishiwagle (@thehrishiwagle) May 1, 2023
Some of the netizens also took to LinkedIn to share how “baffled” and “bewildered” they were to see Gavaskar and Sehwag endorsing the product.
A LinkedIn user wrote, “Have grown up seeing both these cricketing legends... Feeling very bad about this incident. Is money above everything? No Morals... SHAME... PATHETIC... First actors, now cricketers... Isn't there any government agency monitoring this? #modiji #pmoindia.”
Another user stated, “Having led #IPL support for a few years as part of my previous role, I have always been beyond amazed at the marketing spends this tournament entails. Having said that, seeing Sunil Gavaskar promote Pan Masala this year has been truly a low blow.”