Simple words. But a powerful message behind it. "A star should spread light and not darkness": President Droupadi Murmu's words landed with the force of a spotlight on an industry that has spent years playing in the shadows.

At the 72nd National Film Awards, the President made a direct appeal to popular film artists, use your influence responsibly, especially when millions of young people watch, listen and imitate. Her message came amid renewed scrutiny of celebrity endorsements for products linked to pan masala and tobacco.

And this perhaps for the first time from a Constitutional Head- The President Of India.

The Vimal Pan Masala advertisement controversy is fresh in our minds. The man behind the clean-up, Tukaram Munde, the Singham of the Maharashtra Food and Drug Safety Department who has tried to bell the cat.

Notices have been shot off to Shahrukh Khan, Tiger Shroff and Ajay Devgun, celebrity endorsements of tobacco are not okay, opines the officer who has become a household name now for his action against those selling us bad food and also against those shadow selling tobacco.

But are the Vimal Pan masala trio the only ones guilty?

Of course not. Over the years, the faces selling the flavour have been some of the biggest names in India.

  • Amitabh Bachchan
  • Ranveer Singh
  • Priyanka Chopra
  • Anushka Sharma
  • Mahesh Babu
  • Tiger Shroff
  • Pierce Brosnan
  • Sunil Gavaskar
  • Virender Sehwag
  • Salman Khan
  • Akshay Kumar
  • Saif Ali Khan

Different generations. Different professions. Different audiences.

But sometimes, the same silver sheen. The elaichi. The pearls. The mouth freshener. The familiar logo. The familiar colours. The familiar brand name.

And behind the supposedly innocuous product can sit a much more controversial association. That is the genius and the problem of surrogate advertising.

You don't necessarily sell tobacco products. You sell the memory of it. You sell the name. You sell the face. You sell the aspiration.

And perhaps most importantly, you sell brand recall.

Priyanka Chopra and Anushka Sharma have appeared in Rajnigandha Pearls campaigns; Mahesh Babu has appeared in Pan Bahar advertising;, Pierce Brosnan's 2016 Pan Bahar campaign became an international talking point, with the actor later saying he had not been fully informed about the nature of the product.

Then came the cricketing greats. Sunil Gavaskar. Virender Sehwag.

Two names that generations grew up associating with cricket, discipline and sporting excellence, appearing in advertising for Kamla Pasand.

And then there is the Vimal universe.

  • Shah Rukh Khan
  • Ajay Devgn
  • Tiger Shroff

This is not simply about an advertisement. It is about what a celebrity makes desirable.

A child may not buy the product.

A teenager may not even understand the distinction between elaichi and pan masala.

But they know the face.

  • They remember the jingle.
  • They recognise the colours.
  • They remember the brand.

And that is where the line between advertising a product and advertising a memory becomes dangerously thin.

For decades, tobacco advertising has been restricted precisely because of the enormous public-health consequences associated with tobacco use. Surrogate advertising attempts to occupy the space just beside that prohibition, promoting another product while retaining the identity and recall of the larger brand.

Which brings us back to the President's words.

Spread light, not darkness.

Because tobacco related deaths in cases in India even by a conservative estimate cross 1.5 million says the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Tobacco use causes 1 out of three cancer cases in India.

It damages every organ in the body causing cancer.

The star endorsing these products must look at the numbers and see first-hand how tobacco devastates families.

It's not just pan masala that has mastered the art of surrogate advertising. Alcohol brands have been doing it for years too.

Think Royal Stag and Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh. MS Dhoni with McDowell's No.1. Akshay Kumar with Bagpiper. Virat Kohli with Royal Challenge.

The product shown may be soda, water, music or a lifestyle property, but the brand name, colours and celebrity association remain unmistakable. Because the star has extraordinary reach and can make healthy living look glamourous. The power they yield is extraordinary and that is why the appeal from the President, unprecedented.

When millions look up to you, an endorsement is never just a cheque. It is a message.

And sometimes, the most powerful advertising isn't what is said. It is what people are made to remember.

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