As an aftermath of Intolerance debate occurred in December last year, Aamir Khan is dropped from the list of brand ambassador of Incredible India Campaign. The position is now been offered to Biggest Superstar of entertainment fraternity Mr Amitabh Bachchan, he would be retaining the position for next three years. The letter of brand endorsement was given on 8th January 2016.
Although, Minister of Tourism and Culture Mahesh Sharma gives a distinct reason for discontinuing Aamir Khan’s endorsing the campaign. Sharma said that the actor (Aamir Khan) featured in Incredible India campaign was through an ad agency, McCann Erickson, contract tenure of the agency with government had expired.
The media reports suggests that Amitabh Bachchan has been recruited directly by the government, unlike Aamir Khan who was removed from the campaign on Wednesday 6th January. If media reports to be believed than, name of Amitabh Bachchan was suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. The star was also featured in tourism campaign of Gujarat. Reports further say that, Aamir’s removal considered as punishment of an alleged comment that India is experiencing religious intolerance.
Aamir Khan, in his talk to media stressed that he has remained spokesperson of campaign for 10 long years, he further added that “It is the prerogative of the government to decide whether they need a brand ambassador for any campaign, and if so, who that ambassador should be. I respect the decision of the government to discontinue with my services.”
On the other hand Amitabh Bachchan during a television show said, “I think you need to clarify first whether he (Aamir) is being removed because of something that he may have said or it’s the end of his contract. … I don’t think that people are removed just because they did not agree or said something that is controversial.”
Explaining that he has not yet been formally asked to feature in the campaign, Mr Bachchan was quoted as saying, “Nobody has asked me but if they do, yes, I would be more than willing to. I do a lot of this for a state and country and I will be happy if ever there is offer to do something.”
