King Khan re-discovers volatility of public sentiment
Pradipta Mukherjee & Ishita Ayan Dutt / Kolkata Feb 22, 2010, 00:55 IST
Mega star Shah Rukh Khan's brush with off-screen controversies is also acquiring mega proportions. Soon after his much-publicised war of words with the Shiv Sena, Khan finds himself in the spotlight once again — this time over his team, Kolkata Knight Rider's merchandise deal with the promoters of Lux Cozi innerwear.
Ashok Todi, one of the promoters of Lux Cozi, is in the dock over charges of abetment of suicide of Rizwanur Rehman, a 30-year old computer graphics teacher — something which has been grabbing the headlines for over two and a half years and shook Kolkata's conscience.
Consider the background: Rizwanur Rahman died in September 2007, a little more than a month after he married Priyanka Todi, daughter of Ashok Todi. The family knocked on the doors of the police and politicians to break the marriage. The incident came to light only after Rizwanur’s death and embarrassed the state government enough to transfer this city’s police commissioner, a deputy commissioner, assistant commissioner and two other officials from their posts. The case against Ashok Todi is still being heard in court.
That is just the point that social activist Mudar Patherya is planning to raise at a press conference on KKR versus KKK (Kolkata Knight Riders versus Konscience Keepers of Kolkata) on Monday, where citizens will come together to protest against the deal.
According to Patherya, “Even though Ashok Todi is yet to be convicted, the association with Lux Cozi should be in abeyance. After all, it’s the image of Kolkata as a city, since it is a deal with KKR. The image of the city is inextricably linked with this deal.”
Patherya had led a 16-day candlelight vigil when the Rizwanur death took place, and it was the public sentiment that prompted Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to act against the police officials.
KKR is taken aback by the reaction. Red Chillies, the company that owns KKR, says its association with Lux Cozi was a business decision and it was surprised by such a reaction of the public. A spokesperson for Red Chillies told Business Standard, “We are looking at associating with more than one local company this year for sponsorships and branding. We did our due diligence but only at the company level. So, we read the balance sheets and we felt that Luz Cozi had been in business for a long time and is growing rapidly. So, we felt we were safe to associate with the company.”
“We are here to do business and entertain people. We never had the intention to hurt or upset any one's sentiments. But, the point is, Lux Cozi is still in business. It has several other brand associations and brand ambassadors. It is advertising outdoors, on television and in print. Nobody has barred or black-listed the company. Consumers are still buying their products and that is how Lux Cozi's turnover is growing. So, we associated with the company this year and it is unfortunate that KKR has been singled out when several others are still doing business with Lux Cozi.”
KKR was also going to have a discussion with the Lux Cozi management on how to take the association forward.
Reactions have been pouring in from different quarters. Rizwanur’s brother, Rukbanur Rahman, is writing an appeal to Shah Rukh Khan. Rukbanur said: “He is a youth icon, he has an image. I will appeal to Shah Rukh Khan for dissociating with the brand. Shah Rukh Khan’s fans have come and approached me to write this appeal.”
Trinamool Congress leader and leader of the opposition in the West Bengal legislative assemble, Partha Chatterjee, said: “It was unbecoming of Shah Rukh Khan to associate with Ashok Todi. He obviously does not empathise with Rizwanur’s family.” The TC had backed Rubanur in his fight for justice, though much after the citizens' protest.
Comments are also pouring in on the Kolkata Knight Riders’ blog section, expressing disapproval about the association. Harish Bijoor, brand strategy specialist and CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults, pointed out the flip side of brand association. “Brands always have this problem of earning a controversial reputation if they associate with anything that is controversial. Red Chillies should have done due diligence before signing the deal. Brands should always try to maintain a clean image for long-term benefits. But, public memory is poor, especially with sports,” he said.
To get the support of kolkattans,avoid political & a-political anger SRK's KKR puts Lux Cozi tie-up on hold. It will benefit for the film MNIK too.If he wouldn't take the decission then it would create another turmoil.The decision have increase the credibility of SRK on the kolkattans. Last year SRK has done mistake by dropping Sourav Ganguly as the skipper of KKR,for this reason he had to face much criticism.This year he has sought the mistake.Basically this is a perfect business strategy so this year SRK will earn a lum-sum ammount from the game(whatever the match result).
Actors r finding themselves being dragged into political issues, some by force (like this one) and some by choice (for example, NDTV)...btw, KKK can also stand for Ku Klux Klan!
On another note, has Mudar Patherya carried out a "candlelight vigil" when Rajneesh Sharma was killed in police custody in Kashmir since he married a Muslim girl???
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