Khan rivalry spills over to ad world  ( July '21,2008, Business Standard)

ADVERTISING: DTH service provider Tata Sky has signed Aamir Khan to counter Dish TV's hugely successful campaign with Shahrukh Khan.

The country's tabloids had a great time recently when they found out that Aamir Khan owned a pet dog named Shahrukh! The rivalry between the two most bankable stars of Bollywood is well-documented. With this incident, it touched a new low.

It now seems that the rivalry has spilled over to the world of advertisements as well. Direct-to-home service provider Tata Sky has signed Aamir as its new brand ambassador.

In the past, the company had on its rolls names like Kirron Kher, Hrithik Roshan and Paresh Rawal. But Aamir is the trump card.

Vikram Kaushik, CEO and managing director, Tata Sky, said: "Aamir fits correctly with the Tata Sky brand values of trust, high-quality entertainment and innovation. As our brand ambassador, he will be instrumental in communicating the benefits of Tata Sky to consumers across the country."

Recently, Subhash Chandra's DTH arm, Dish TV, had launched a high-decibel campaign with Shahrukh. The advertisements were a hit and the company was able to ramp up its subscriber base. But now it has to contend with Aamir as a rival.

This is not the first product category over which the two have clashed by endorsing rival brands.
BRANDS APART
Product Shahrukh Aamir
DTH DishTV TataSky
Mobile Nokia Samsung
Watch Tag Heuer Titan
Biscuit Sunfeast Monaco
Cola Pepsi Coca-Cola


The list includes watches, cars, aerated beverages, biscuits and mobile handsets. The two were pitted against each other first when Coca-Cola ran its famous Aamir campaign against that of Pepsi with Shahrukh.

Though they endorse similar products, Aamir and Shahrukh are as different as chalk and cheese. Shahrukh is flamboyant and is good at family dramas and bubblegummers, while Aamir is intense and makes thought-provoking films.

Shahrukh is a regular face on the silver screen, television, stage shows as well as film award functions. Aamir does not more than one movie at a time and avoids award functions like the plague.

However, while Shahrukh is known to charge Rs 8-10 crore per brand, Aamir charges around Rs 4-6 crore. Some experts feel this gap between the two may get bridged soon, given the recent success of Aamir's films like Rang De Basanti, Taare Zameen Par and Jane Tu Ya Jane Na (he co-produced it).

Santosh Desai, CEO & managing director, Future Brands, said: "An advertiser would like to associate with someone who has mass appeal and can easily endorse a wide range of products."

He added: "In that sense, I think Aamir has always been hot property and since now he is open to taking up brands , advertisers are lapping up the opportunity."

Anil Verma, executive creative director, Mudra, says: "With the kind of diverse roles he plays on-screen, Aamir can easily fit into the character which a product demands. It is this kind of flexibility that is attracting advertisers towards him."

Tabloids are, meanwhile, waiting for Shahrukh to buy a pet dog and give it an appropriate name.