Aryan Khan incident won’t dent Shahrukh Khan’s brand equity, say experts

The drugs and Bollywood nexus once again came to the fore with the arrest of actor Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and seven others by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) from a cruise ship on October 2, 2021. According to NCB, the youngsters were caught with drugs at a rave party held at the cruise ship. Aryan Khan has been remanded to NCB’s custody till October 7.

Ever since the news broke, there has been a slew of reactions on social media. Aryan Khan has been quite active on social media for long and is quite popular, along with his sister. They often feature on their parents’ social media feeds as well.

While Bollywood has largely come out in support of Shahrukh Khan during this period, there has been some backlash for a brand that the actor endorses. As a highly popular A-list film star, Shahrukh has endorsed numerous brands over the years. His endearing personality, the string of Bollywood hits, his back story of an outsider making it big in the film industry, makes Shahrukh a much sought after brand ambassador.

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BYJU’S and Vimal Pan Masala, two brands endorsed by Shahrukh, have a very high visibility on television during the ongoing IPL 2021 tournament. However, it is BYJU’S that is feeling the heat of Shahrukh’s son’s drug arrest. Being an e-learning platform, the BYJU’S ad sees Shahrukh addressing kids and parents, due to which the brand is being trolled on social media. This particular incident has hit the edutech brand out of the blue and it remains to be seen how BYJU’S responds to the flak that it has received for no fault of theirs.

The Shahrukh predicament is not the first such instance – of course, in this case it his son who has transgressed. In the past actor Farhan Akhtar faced a lot of flak for his anti-CAA comment and there were calls for brands to boycott the actor and also to boycott his then to-be-released film ‘Toofan’. Globally, Accenture dropped Tiger Woods after the sex scandal involving the golfer. Famed cyclist Lance Armstrong lost several brand contracts after his drug scandal. Tennis star Maria Sharapova lost the Tag Heuer endorsement after her doping ban. While very few brands actually stand by fallen heroes, Nike and Gillette stood by Tiger Woods, but on revised terms and a new value.

Will brands stand by Shahrukh? Will this incident result in a significant dent on the actor’s brand equity?

Commenting on Shahrukh Khan’s son’s incident, Harish Bijoor, Brand Strategy Specialist & Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc, felt that, “Brand Shahrukh gets stirred and shaken. That is but natural whenever an incident of this kind occurs. The brand takes a temporary beating. However, the beauty of it is the fact that such brand-scars don’t last. It will be business as usual, much sooner...than much later!”

“Brands like to work with a long-term perspective on markets and Shahrukh’s enduring presence has built quite a few of these over the years,” pointed out Vistasp Hodiwala Co-Founder and CCO, Underdog; Co-Founder, Centrick. He added, “While there may be a momentary reluctance to sign him on while the drug bust issue plays out on the front pages, it would take a rather myopic brand manager to take this more seriously than this issue deserves to be taken. Once the noise dies out, it will be business as usual I suspect.” 

Most brands do their due diligence and sign a brand ambassador with certain trust and faith. But at times brands do land up in an awkward situation when there is some negative rub-off on the brand ambassador. Giving his perspective, Anup Sharma, Independent Communication Consultant, remarked, “The role of influencers and brand ambassadors have always been in the spotlight – now with extensive use of digital and social media, consumers hold the celebrity accountable for their ‘character’ and also the ‘performance’ of the brand they endorse and influence. Brands do their due diligence and also have contract guidelines, but the issue of family members or staff getting involved are part of the collateral damage. Political leaders face these more.”

Adding further, Sharma said, “Using a celebrity helps the brand, but has the potential of falling with celebrity scandals’ rub-off on their brand image. Consumers now are more aware of the blurring line between paid and earned media and this brings the issue of credibility and trust in communication.”

According to Nisha Sampath, Managing Partner, Bright Angles Consulting LLP, “Shahrukh has always come across as a highly intelligent, spontaneous guy who follows his heart. He has never claimed to be a highly controlling or a possessive father. Only a loving and supportive one. Definitely, he has never been righteous. In today’s world, being authentic matters a lot. In his time of crisis, if he continues to honestly share his feelings, people will empathise, rather than think less of him. And brands should ride this out with him. Of course, if a ‘correct’ or ‘responsible’ image matters hugely, they may evaluate stepping back for now.”

Lloyd Mathias, Business Strategist and Investor, too, felt that Aryan Khan being sent to the NCB custody would have any substantial impact on Shahrukh Khan’s brand. “SRK has built a strong and resilient brand over the years and he has himself had his share of controversies. Some of these issues while being newsy, don’t really take away from the star’s popularity. Of course, as a parent of a young man, this must be a huge worry for Shahrukh and his wife Gauri. Other than this, I think the issue really won’t impact Shahrukh’s popularity or star appeal to both cinema goers and brands that use him for endorsement.”

(Edited and Additional Inputs by Shanta Saikia.)