Shah Rukh Khan, new brand ambassador for Colgate

The advertisement fraternity does not seem to believe in the maxim that the hit pair of the silver screen needs to be drafted in pair for the endorsement of a product. So, the hit pair of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, one of the most romantic pairs of all times, would now be facing each other in endorsing a product. Shah Rukh Khan would be the new brand ambassador for Colgate Dental products, while Kajol is the brand ambassador for Anchor White.

It would be interesting face-off between the fans of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol as they still have legendary fan following and when they would be endorsing dental products of the rival brands, it would indeed be an interesting battle that would pan out. Probably taking a cue from the fact that celebrity pairs should be roped in as pairs, Airtel decided to use Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor together in series of advertisements that are being aired on various television channels these days.

If one were to go into the history of pairing for endorsement of a brand, the history does not have a rich antiquity. Among the celebrity pairs that have figured in the past include Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone for Pepsi, and before them Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora for a coffee chain. The most successful pairing however is that of Bipasha Basu and John Abraham, but it has also been now broken up, as in the new series of Reebok advertisements it is the Indian captain, MS Dhoni who now features along with Bipasha Basu. Other pair that features on a regular basis in new campaigns is that of Ajay Devgan and Kajol, though it has not been able to enlarge its ambit, as the pairing has been used only to promote Whirlpool brand of white goods.

The concept of pairing may not have gained ground on account of the controversy that emanated with the first such campaign, that between Milind Soman and Madhu Sapre. The synergy of pairs endorsing a brand from that time onwards has been only in fits and starts and it does not follow a smooth upward curve increasing more in its ambit on a regular basis.

Interestingly enough a pairing that has been a hit was that between Aamir Khan and Darsheel after TAARE ZAMEEN PAR, and it is one of the rare advertisements where Aamir Khan appears in a pair with Darsheel, a male-male combination. This pairing has got a much larger acceptability manifest from the number of additional brands that they are endorsing. Salman Khan has also appeared for the first time in a pair along with brother Sohail Khan in Chloromint advertisement.

One only wonders whether somebody from the advertisement fraternity would do some out of the box thinking and think of featuring Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan as the new pair endorsing a product.