Akshay Kumar apologises for endorsing Vimal Elaichi

Says he will contribute the entire endorsement fee towards a healthy cause.

Actor Akshay Kumar, in a note, has apologised to everyone for endorsing Vimal Elaichi, a brand of cardamom seeds.

Fans, onlookers, and netizens had criticized the actor for agreeing to endorse Vimal Elaichi which they saw as a case of surrogate advertising for Vimal Pan Masala whose advertising the government prohibits and which is injurious to health.

🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/rBMZqGDdUI

— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) April 20, 2022

Social media, on learning Kumar’s endorsement, had dug up a press conference video where Kumar had spoken against actors who endorsed toxic products and had said, “I request them (the actors) to not endorse such products, because people see them, follow them….”

Also Read: What is Akshay Kumar doing in the Vimal “Bolo Zubaan Kesari” Elaichi universe?

The actor, as of now, has appeared in a single ad for Vimal Elaichi alongside actors Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn. Kumar says, “the brand might continue airing the ads till the legal duration of the contract that is binding upon me…”

This, in contrast, to actor Amitabh Bachchan who, last year (2021), sent a legal notice to Kamla Pasand Elaichi because it continued to air the ads featuring him and actor Ranveer Singh despite the termination of the contract. The ads starring Bachchan and Singh too fell under the branch of surrogate advertising.