Snapdeal won't renew Aamir Khan's contract as brand ambassador: Economic Times

The business daily quoted anonymous sources saying that Snapdeal has decided not to retain Khan after his contract ends later this year

Indian e-commerce major Snapdeal.com has decided against renewing Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan’s contract as brand ambassador, The Economic Times reported Friday.
 
The one-year deal ends later this year.
"It was extendable by a year but the company decided against it," one of two sources that the newspaper spoke to said. It was not immediately clear whether Snapdeal would replace Khan with another celebrity.

The Economic Times said Snapdeal didn't respond to its questions, while it couldn’t reach Khan for comment. 

 
Marketing industry experts ET quoted said that the move by Snapdeal likely stemmed from Khan’s comments last year about growing intolerance in the country.
 

However, Prathap Suthan, managing partner of Bang In The Middle, a Gurgaon-based advertising agency, told the newspaper that the brand was “(being) harsh on its brand ambassador”.
 
Suthan, who was behind an earlier NDA government’s India Shining campaign in 2004, was quoted as saying that “One, Aamir Khan's comment was not holistic. While it is good to go with the popular, the brand completely ignored the goodness that the actor is known for... It could have shown great character if it had stood by Khan." 
 
Khan was at the centre of a controversy late last year after he made a comment about rising intolerance in the country, the so-called ‘Award Wapsi’ campaign, and how certain incidents had even prompted his wife Kiran Rao to contemplate leaving the country. While Khan did not endorse her views, referring to them as ‘disastrous’, the issue metastasized into a raging controversy, especially on social media.

 
At the time, Snapdeal had stopped using Khan in its ads after the controversy broke. It also disassociated itself from Khan’s comments after irate users downgraded the online retailer’s mobile app on the Google Play Store.


Shortly after, in December, the BJP-led government in New Delhi also said it was terminating its contract for the Incredible India campaign, of which Khan was the brand ambassador. While Khan had been brought in the advertising agency and had no formal or direct contract with the government, the move has been interpreted as one of vendetta against the actor for his comments. He has since been replaced by Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachcha – who has also been the brand ambassador for Gujarat Tourism – and Priyanka Chopra.