President’s call puts spotlight on celebrity endorsements of harmful products

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The remarks come as the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) examines whether the Vimal Elaichi campaign amounts to surrogate advertising for Vimal Pan Masala. Photo: Instagram/@vimalelaichi.

Public health experts have called for tighter regulation of celebrity endorsements of harmful products following President Droupadi Murmu’s appeal to artistes to refrain from promoting substances detrimental to health, made against the backdrop of Maharashtra’s action over a Vimal Elaichi advertisement featuring Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff.

The President, speaking at the 72nd National Film Awards in Gujarat on Tuesday (September 22, 2026), said popular artists, particularly those who influence children and young people, should promote disciplined lifestyles and refrain from endorsing substances harmful to health.

The remarks come as the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) examines whether the Vimal Elaichi campaign amounts to surrogate advertising for Vimal Pan Masala. The FDA has issued show-cause notices to the three actors, alleging that the advertisement creates an association with a pan-masala product whose manufacture, storage, transportation, distribution and sale have been prohibited in Maharashtra.

The issue has also reached the courts. The Delhi High Court on September 14 declined to entertain a challenge to the FDA notices on territorial-jurisdiction grounds and directed the petitioner to approach the appropriate court in Maharashtra. The court did not adjudicate on whether the advertisements amounted to surrogate advertising.

Public health advocates have long raised concerns that celebrity endorsements can give socially acceptable imagery to products associated with tobacco, areca nut and other harmful substances, particularly among younger audiences. Cancer specialists have also warned about the health consequences associated with tobacco and areca-nut consumption.

The Vimal campaign is not the first instance in which Bollywood celebrities have faced scrutiny over such endorsements. Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Akshay Kumar have, at different times, been associated with advertisements for pan masala or related products. Kumar withdrew from a Vimal campaign in 2022 following criticism.

The renewed debate raises a broader public health question over whether regulations governing advertising are keeping pace with the influence of celebrity endorsements, particularly where advertisements for apparently permissible products may create associations with products that are restricted or harmful.

Speaking to The Hindu, Arun Gupta, convener of Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi), said appeals to celebrities needed to be backed by a clear legal framework covering the endorsement and advertising of harmful products, including tobacco and ultra-processed foods.

“I wish appeals were taken seriously and work in India, especially when it comes to endorsement and advertising of harmful products which include ultra-processed food products and tobacco products,” he said.

Mr. Gupta said the government should act on the President’s appeal and enact a clearly worded law to prohibit the marketing of unhealthy products.

“This is the only way to curb the trend. Why I am saying this is because the current legal framework is more of self-regulation and is ineffective even though the government believes it to be working,” he said.

Sandeep Nayak, chairman — Oncology and executive director — Surgical Oncology and Robotic Surgery, KIMS Hospitals, Bengaluru, said the President’s remarks highlighted the public-health consequences of celebrity endorsements of tobacco-linked products.

“As oncologists, we witness daily the catastrophic impact of pan masala, alcohol and tobacco addiction in our clinics. When high-profile icons lend their names to these brands, they inadvertently glamorise carcinogenic products for millions of impressionable youth,” he said.

Dr. Nayak said products such as silver-coated cardamom and flavoured mouth fresheners marketed under tobacco-associated brand names could function as surrogate advertisements.

“Using identical brand titles, logos and colour palettes — whether for pan masala or alcohol extensions —” creates a strong association with the primary brand, he said, calling for tighter regulation of such brand extensions.

Giving an insight into the scale of tobacco use in India, the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21) found that 21.4% of Indians aged 15-49 used smokeless tobacco, with the prevalence higher among men (29.6%) than women (12.8%). The latest Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), conducted in 2016-17, estimated that 28.6% of Indians aged 15 years and above — nearly 267 million people — used tobacco. The survey also found that smokeless tobacco was the most prevalent form of tobacco use in the country.

A World Health Organisation study estimated the economic cost of diseases and premature deaths attributable to tobacco at ₹1.77 lakh crore in 2017-18, more than 1% of GDP, while treatment of tobacco-related diseases accounted for 5.3% of total health expenditure. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has estimated that smokeless tobacco and areca-nut use caused more than 120,000 oral-cancer cases globally in 2022, with 88% occurring in South-Central Asia.

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