Shah Rukh Khan who’s been a brand ambassador for a leading soft drink commercial had once reacted to not doing such ads. The actor was asked in an interview about these soft drinks not being healthy and that children see him in a commercial and want to consume it. The actor had reacted to it during an interview and said that if such soft drinks are bad, then they should be banned.
He said during a chat with Karan Thappar on CNN-IBN, “I would appeal to any authority like that. Ban it. Don’t let it sell in our country. If you think it’s bad for children, ban it. Smoking is bad – don’t let production of cigarettes go on in this country. If you think cold drinks are bad, do not let them. If it’s poisoning our people, do not let it be made in India. See, my logic is, you are not stopping it because it gives you a revenue. Let’s be honest about it. You’re not stopping certain products if you think they’re harmful, but they’re revenue to the government. Don’t stop my revenue. I’m an actor. I’m supposed to do a job and get revenue from it. And very clearly, I mean, if you think something is wrong, stop it. There’s no problem.”
He further added, “The whole larger issue is that today smoking, tomorrow what? And where does it go ahead with this? An art form should be left alone. And I truly believe, that the Indian masses are literate enough to know that there’s no more Humphrey Bogart kind of smoking, no more that you will start smoking because an actor does. And it’s a very, very small health issue. I think the powers that be should look at bigger health issues than smoking in films.”
