Actors just face of the brand: Kangana

Sep 3, 2016 IANS

New Delhi: At a time when the government is mulling over a law that punishes celebrities for misleading advertisements, actress Kangana Ranaut feels it is wrong to hold stars liable for brand endorsements. She says actors are just the face of the brand, and it is "entirely" the consumers' responsibility what they choose to buy.

"We are just the face of the brand but consumer is the king. They have to make their decision and know that it is entirely their responsibility what they choose to buy and invest their resources in," Kangana told IANS in a telephonic interview from Bengaluru.

The Central government could soon come up with a law that would make celebrities "accountable for misleading ads". Recently, the Law and Consumer Affairs Ministry accepted the recommendation of a Parliamentary Standing Committee and decided to impose "stringent provisions including jail term and hefty penalty" of up to Rs 50,00,000 for "repeated offence".

Since the news surfaced, there have been debates going on whether celebrities are liable for their decision to endorse a brand.

The "Queen" star notes that celebrities cannot take responsibility of how the products are manufactured.

She added: "We still are very naive when it comes to the product and consumer relationship. People just have to make their own decisions. We (actors) cannot most definitely take responsibility of how these things are manufactured."

The actress, who is always in the news due to her brazen honesty, shared her views over brand endorsements, and how she picks her deals while she was at Lifestyle store launch at Phoenix Marketcity, Whitefield in Bengaluru.

When it comes to endorsements, Kangana is very selective. She says she would never associate herself with something that "propagate a certain group of people or race".

"It shouldn't be derogatory to a certain section of consumer. I am against fairness and things that sort of want to propagate a certain group of people or race and then run others down.

"That is sort of discrimination and is definitely not acceptable," said the actress, who endorses brands like Melange by Lifestyle and a direct-to-home television brand.

She was also recently seen in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan campaign.