Ash clarifies about Fuji
- mid-day.com
Controversy seems to court Aishwarya Rai. Fuji Films announced that they felt the actress was too expensive and ineffective as a brand ambassador for their product. But other advertising agency representatives state that Rai is worth every penny of the amount she charges. Yesterday’s papers stated that Rai has been replaced by six photographers (Rajesh Bedi, Pradeep Mandhani, Ashok Dilwali, Prakash Dubey, Prabuddha Dasgupta and Avinash Pasricha) for the Fuji campaign. But Rai has this to say. “The article was cleverly written without directly quoting Fuji officials. If there be any truth to this it saddens me that I ever associated with people who need to stoop to these levels to tangentially bring attention to their future campaigns. This means that my name and face do make a difference.”
Ash is surprised by the news coming out now. “The contract had expired more than a year back but the Fuji people had told me that this year they wouldn’t be using anybody to endorse their products because of budgetary constraints, but in 2005 would be returning to me.”
Prahlad Kakkar, ad filmmaker, who introduced Ash in Pepsi commercials (though she now endorses Coke) and has directed her in other ads says, “Fuji has made a big mistake. Some marketing whizkid has sold Fuji for a turkey. Who are these laloo photographers compared to as big a brand name like Aishwarya Rai?
“Ash as a brand ambassador is one of the biggest names going around today and the most in demand as far as women in the film industry are concerned. If they couldn’t afford her rates and wanted someone cheap and cheerful, they shouldn’t have taken her in the first place. That Ash is very popular as a brand shows by the number of ads she is modeling for today including Longines watches, Coca Cola, Nakshatra diamonds and L’Oreal.”
According to Sumanto Chattopadhyay, senior creative director, Ogilvy and Mather, “When you are looking for a brand ambassador you have few celebrities to choose from in terms of popularity, fame and a brand image. Aishwarya Rai, with her non-controversial image, fits the bill for most brands and is definitely in demand. The problem is that there are few celebrities and when they get used over and over again their equity or image tends to get diluted. If they did fewer endorsements their equity would be higher.”
Milind Dhaiwade, national creative director, Everest Integrated Communications says, “It’s unfair to say that Aishwarya is ineffective. You have to use a brand ambassador properly and not just plaster her face all over. She must have worked for Coca Cola, which is why they are using her again and again. I have heard that she has worked effectively for the Nakshatra too. As long as she is in the news and is a known face — which she is — like any other celebrity, she will always work.”
