Who's a celebrity? A new definition soon

If you suddenly discover that you are no longer considered a celebrity, don’t blame it on the Maggi episode.

Advertising agencies and corporates under the aegis of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the self-regulatory body of the advertising industry, are working on a proposal to sharply define who is a celebrity in an advertisement campaign.

ASCI, when contacted, declined to comment on it.

A proposal in discussion aims to define a celebrity through three key benchmarks, one of which is his or her monetary value — fees paid by companies for endorsing their products. The second benchmark being considered is an objective assessment of his or her fame. And the third criterion is the endorser’s influence among potential customers.

The reason for defining a celebrity has become crucial because the government has come out with a draft note amending existing rules under which celebrities will be liable for imprisonment up to five years or fines up to Rs 50 lakh for participating in and endorsing misleading advertisements that make unrealistic claims.

The issue had come into the limelight in 2015 during the Maggi episode when Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said celebrities should be made responsible for misleading the consumer on the nutritional value of the product. Maggi had been endorsed by big stars, including Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dikshit and Preity Zinta.  

Also many consumers had complained to sector regulators against so-called celebrities who were out of circulation for many decades.

A need was felt by the industry that a “celebrity” be precisely defined otherwise it could lead to a plethora of complaints, especially as some of them were being upheld by the regulator. 

The industry is, however, discussing whether there should be a uniform monetary benchmark or should these vary across regions. That is because a celebrity like film star Shah Rukh Khan might be charging in crores for an advertisement but a Bhojpuri star might be paid a fourth or fifth of that amount.

Says a top executive who has been part of the discussions in the ASCI, “We are looking at three benchmarks to define a celebrity — monetary value, how famous he or she is and what is his influence. The discussion on the monetary base ranges from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 1 crore. We are looking at one single number and the consensus might be for Rs 25 lakh.”

The second benchmark under discussion measures fame. This, according to those who are part of the discussion, can be based on various celebrity indices already available in the market, like the Times Celebrity Index. This index rates Indian film stars based on multiple criteria — box-office performance, how much they stay in the news, brand endorsements and popularity in the internet and social media.  

The third benchmark is a celebrity’s current influence among customers.

In April this year the ASCI came out with elaborate guidelines for its members on celebrity advertising with the aim of protecting consumers’ interests while encouraging celebrities and advertisers to refrain from endorsing misleading advertisements.  These guidelines suggested that celebrities should not advertise any product prohibited from advertising under various laws like the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertising) Act and the Drugs and Cosmetic Act or products on which the “injurious to health” tag is put on the packaging.

The guidelines also define celebrities in a broad sweep as people who are from the field of entertainment and sports and other well-known personalities like doctors, authors, activists and educationists. But there was a need to define the term more clearly.  

Those involved in drawing up the new guidelines say that questions have been raised on celebrities like Baba Ramdev endorsing his company Patanjali’s products. Such people, whether they are celebrities or not, will have to be judged on the other two parameters, fame and influence.

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Who's a celebrity? A new definition soon