linkedin After wrestler Sushil Kumar was arrested on murder charges, the old controversy around the brand ambassador impacting the fortunes of the endorsed brand resurfaced. There was much din and noise in earlier cases involving Saurav Ganguly and Akshay Kumar when their infirmities made the brands they were endorsing a laughing stock on social media. Both the brands, Fortune Oil and Dabur Chyawanprash, and their celebrity ambassadors were badly lampooned in earlier months.
So with Sushil Kumar now in jail, the team at the Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB) set out to ask consumers if the arrest of the fallen Olympian would impact their views on Patanjali Desi Ghee. A total of 332 respondents (M= 231, F=101), all in the 18-35 years age segment were telephonically contacted in the week of 7 June 2021. 87% of the respondents said that Patanjali Ghee had done no wrong. The celebrity’s personal morality was not the responsibility of the brand, and Kumar’s arrest in the murder case would not impact their choice or purchase of the ghee brand.