Non-swadeshi movement is the slogan raised by the Indians against the other products and to use only Indian made things for the usage.

In one of the articles that came in 2008, Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) has been projected as a kind of pan-Indian symbol necessary in an extremely heterogeneous nation like India, divided along the lines of language, race, regional communities, religion, class, and caste.

The Brand SRK

The Brand SRK made him especially valuable to the marketing community across the world, irrespective of country. The fact is that SRK has built a legacy in the Indian advertising sector and has been endorsing more than 40 brands. The Brand SRK’s role in the grand, unifying narrative may no longer hold true in contemporary India, where it is stamped as an anti-Indian.

SRK recently promoted Cadbury India during the Diwali season and intended to promote the TV commercial that was aired right in the midst of a controversy surrounding his son, Aryan Khan. He was taken into custody by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), where he was arrested in connection with a drug raid.

After his son’s arrest, several groups on social media demanded a boycott of SRK’s advertisements on social media platforms. The hashtag #BoycottSRK trended for a long time.

After spending 26 days in jail in a drug case, SRK’s son was granted bail in October 2021.

Boycott brands trends

As the non-swadeshi movement emphasizes, it’s not enough to “Make in India,” things have turned difficult for other country products to make an advertising campaign in India. The backstory behind boycotting other country brands is as comical as they are grave. For instance, Fab India stores used Urdu for a Diwali festive clothing line, Ceat Tyres, which had actor Aamir Khan delivering a PSA to children on bursting crackers on the road that gave wrong signals to the Hindu community.

Especially during the festive season alone, there are more calls to boycott brands as a few noted designer outlets are hurting the sentiments of Hindus with their way of presentation and designs.

Social media & tags

Even social media cries for boycotting brands as it appears that when brands stand by their advertisements, refusing to pull them down, they are often labeled as anti-Indians.

I think it’s absolutely important that advertising addresses the government of India and the government of the states concerned. There is a need for protection,” says a chairman of the global investment sector.

As per his version, people have issues regarding advertisements; they should know that ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India) does a lot of screening and, if that’s not enough, they can seek legal recourse, but still, the situation looks out of control.

One of the close associations of SRK over the years is that the actor undoubtedly has a huge appeal. The version is that compared to sports personalities, who are celebrities in their own right, SRK just owns massive popularity just for his performance skills.

A multinational company named Byju signed SRK as a brand ambassador in 2017, which is said to be SRK’s biggest deal ever.

Noted Filmmaker Joyeeta Patpatia, who made the web series ‘Four More Shots Please,’ opines that “There is an overall climate of fear which is why brands recall advertisements. But when a brand decides to pull promotional creatives off the air, it feels like the brand isn’t backing the agency and the creatives.

In the recent past, in 2020, Tanishq was forced to recall a campaign that showcased inter-faith marriage after it was construed by social media users, including actor Kangana Ranaut, as “love jihad.” For the same ad, even Tanishq’s employees were targeted as well. “If a brand thinks they are being brave by talking to SRK, then they have some serious rethinking. I hope brands don’t rethink doing so, because then [actors] Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt couldn’t have continued doing ads or even films,” opinions the filmmaker.

In October 2021, the brand temporarily suspended all advertisements featuring its brand ambassador. After a pause of about four days, the advertisements were back on the air, including during the T20 World Cup 2021, where Byju’s is one of the sponsors.

But social media users raised doubts about positioning SRK as a brand ambassador for an edtech company when his own son had been accused in a drugs raid. However, the issue was left without addressing later.

As Byju’s commercials have resumed, the investigation into Aryan’s case will take its own course.

On the other hand, censorship in Indian advertising is not new; however, in the past, advertisements for brands such as Tuff Shoes faced a heavy backlash and were dragged to the court on the grounds of morality and propriety. Things, observe commentators, have taken a more communal turn of late.

Ayyappan Raj, the co-founder of writers’ hub The Script Room, who has worked in the advertising department for 18 years, says when it comes to the recent issues such as last year’s Tanishq advertisement or this year’s FabIndia’s, there are two parts of the conflict—religious polarisation and patriarchal gender norms, with the latter also gaining a religious dimension in recent years.

A few opinions that it is not the first time that a Brand SRK advertisement has faced social media hate.

Earlier, a fake social media account posing as Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani tweeted that the industrialist had decided to remove SRK from Jio advertisements.

This unverified account had 12,000 followers in under a month. The tweet had more than 50,000 likes, which is a live example of the hatred being spread on SRK on social media. Adding to it, a hashtag saying SRK’s ads to be boycotted in October was only preceded by a social media trend to boycott the actor as well.

During the promotions for SRK’s upcoming film Pathaan, a few propagandists targeted SRK by calling him a “terrorist” and “Pakistani-lover.

All the above incidents are proof that intentional hatred is being spread against Shah Rukh Khan, the Bollywood Baadshah but the image he has built over the years is something beyond all the negativity and hatred on him by a section on social media platforms, opinions of the star actors admirers.