As 'King Khan' Turns 58, here's a look at SRK's ad journey

The man behind some of the most loved characters such as ‘Raj’, ‘Rahul’, ‘Don’, ‘Om Kapoor’, ‘Dr. Jehangir Khan’, ‘Pathaan’ and ‘Azaad’ amongst many others, Shah Rukh Khan, has turned 58 years old today.

Making his professional debut in Doordarshan’s ‘Fauji’ in 1988 to giving some of the top global hits like ‘Jawan’ and ‘Pathaan’ and that too in a back-to-back fashion in 2023, Khan, alias King Khan, has truly lived up to his stature of being a self-made man who is loved and cherished by all, be it when he stars in a movie or takes up an ad campaign.

Who knew that the man who once entered the enigmatic world of Bollywood as a newbie in the never-sleeping streets of Bombay, the city of dreams, would one day set up ‘Mannat’ which will be flooded by fans awaiting to see just a glimpse of their favourite Bollywood celeb.

Today, Khan is one of the highest paid actors of the Indian Cinema, who has featured in over 90+ movies and earned for himself several accolades and coveted awards like the Filmfare, Padma Shree by the Government of India and the Knight of the Legion of Honour by the Government of France amongst others, while co-owning the IPL franchise- Kolkata Knight Riders.

It is in real life that SRK has truly lived by his iconic dialogue in Om Shanti Om, “Agar kisi chiiz ko shiddat se chaaho toh poori kaynaat tumhe use milane ki saazish me lag jaati hai!”

But it is not solely Bollywood that makes Brand SRK what it is today, it is also the numerous brand endorsement deals that Khan has cracked for himself in the past which make him rank 10th on the celebrity brand valuation list.

In fact, as per industry estimates, Khan charges nothing less than Rs. 5 crore to Rs. 10 crore per day for brand endorsement deals in today’s times.

On his 58th birthday, here is a sneak peek into some of his most notable ad works:

How have telecoms leveraged King Khan:

The telecom players have time and again roped in Khan for brand endorsements and have created ad campaigns showcasing several facets of the Bollywood actor’s life ranging from his film roles and celebrations to airtight shooting schedules which helped him build an affinity for himself all in one decade.  

Nokia Ad showing SRK’s glamorous lifestyle and tight schedules-

Airtel Ad featuring Khan correlating gossips with phone recharges

Jio Ad leveraging Khan to embark on digital transformation-

FMCG brand endorsements by Khan:

The FMCG players have also judiciously utilised SRK’s brand value to entice customers to resort to the category product offerings like beverages, food items, soaps and deodorants, home fragrances and confectionary items, amongst other things.

Sona Chandi Chyawanprash ad showing the royal side of King Khan-

SRK tries to impersonate Sachin Tendulkar in Pepsi ad highlighting their tagline Yeh Dil Maange More-

SRK turns snakecharmer in another Pepsi ad-

Khan goes ‘Bekaboo’ in Lux Soap’s ad-

Emami makes SRK thrash boxer in its Fair and Handsome Ad-

Shah Rukh Khan picks Italian accent to don Chef’s role for Sunfeast Pasta-

Denver becomes SRK’s fragrance of success in new ad-

ThumsUp brings out the rowdy side of Bollywood’s Don in ad campaign-

SRK goes shirtless for Godrej Magic-

Shah Rukh Khan and the automobile industry:

When it comes to the automobile industry, Khan’s relationship with industry players dates back several decades. He had been an avid endorser for Santro and later began appearing for Hyundai in their commercials.

Khan takes a walk in scorching sun only to drive away with Santro Xing-

SRK drives female cricketers to their destination for Hyundai-

Khan’s tryst with Gaming and Entertainment

It is no secret that Khan is one of the most renowned Bollywood celebs and has a massive following which is why it is only natural for the OTT players to onboard him for ad campaigns. But having said that gaming players have also left no stones unturned to showcase how it is skills which make the difference be it for entertainment or for playing a game.

SRK invites audience to play with him in the new A23 ad-

Disney+ Hotstar showcases an egoistic side of SRK in an ad-

Khan receives an offer of a lifetime from Netflix in an ad-

Prime announces Pathaan’s arrival on OTT by starring BB Ki Vines maker alongside SRK-

SRK and AI

In times like these when AI is being increasingly deployed to make an ad agency’s job more fun and interesting, it is SRK who has been at the forefront of various AI-led ad campaigns. In fact, it was SRK MY ad campaign rolled out by Mondelez which has been winning big, even before the words like GenAI gained prominence.

Cadbury goes deep-tech to empower small businesses in SRK’s Not Just A Cadbury Ad-

SRK features in latest Sunfeast Ai-led ad for Dark Fantasy-

India Today’s Sana catches up with SRK prior to Jawan’s air date in India-

Some of the recent ads starring King of Romance:

While it is nothing new for brands to showcase multiple celebrities in one ad, multiple brands have featured him along side the other famous names in the Bollywood industry such as Amitabh Bachchan, Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor. He has also been featured in an ad campaign for his son’s brand- D’Yavol by Aryan Khan.

SRK featuring along side Big B of Bollywood for Everest Spices-

Rungta Steels recreates Jawan’s scene with Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor featuring alongside SRK-

SRK’s first ad campaign featuring alongside Aryan Khan-

The controversial side of SRK-

Bollywood’s Khan had faced humongous backlash for picking up and featuring in a surrogate ad-campaign of Vimal Elaichi as fans saw him, as a man of stature and didn’t appreciate his move of endorsing a pan masala brand.

Vimal Elaichi’s latest Ad featuring SRK-

Earlier on, when Emami’s Fair and Handsome landed into trouble for its misleading name, King Khan also fell prey to the social media backlash as an endorser of the brand. The public took a jibe at him for promoting a brand/product which in turn made people feel bad for being dark or dusky in complexion.

But none of this impacted SRK’s brand value until last year and he continued to be amongst the top five Bollywood celebs in the country. However, SRK’s brand value tanked and suffered a major blow when his son Aryan Khan was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau in a drug-related case.

As a result of this Byju’s had halted all advertisements featuring SRK owing to the then ongoing investigation against his son. Due to this, The ed-tech brand had to suffer major losses. But, later on the ed-tech company had resumed their ads after Khan’s son was released and given a clean chit by the NCB.

SRK in Byju’s ad-

Soon in October 2022, he slid down from ranking number 4 to number 12 in Kroll’s Celebrity Brand Valuation Report 2021. But this year, he again moved up the rung to the 10th position.

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