President’s call puts spotlight on celebrity endorsements of harmful products
President Droupadi Murmu has urged celebrities to avoid endorsing harmful products, following scrutiny over Bollywood actors promoting pan masala brands. The Maharashtra FDA is currently investigating whether these advertisements constitute illegal surrogate advertising.
Why it matters
The intersection of celebrity influence, public health, and regulatory oversight is a growing concern for consumer protection and youth health.
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.
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