Vidya Balan Shares Kartik Aaryan Chose To Promote A Condom Brand Over Paan Masala

Actor Kartik Aaryan has openly shared that he won’t be endorsing paan masala products, even though he has been approached with tempting offers.

Kartik Aaryan has openly shared that he won’t be endorsing paan masala products.

Source : PTI

Actor Kartik Aaryan has openly shared that he won’t be endorsing paan masala products, even though he has been approached with tempting offers. The ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’ star shared that despite various incentives, he’s steadfastly declined such endorsements. Kartik joins a growing conversation around Bollywood stars endorsing paan masala brands, with big names like Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, Tiger Shroff, and Hrithik Roshan receiving criticism for promoting these products. 

Kartik Aaryan on refusing paan masala ads

In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Kartik explained his stance, saying, “I have refused paan masala ads. They tempted me with a lot of things, but I was never tempted to do that at all.” 

During the interview, his co-star from ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’, Vidya Balan, lightened the mood by joking about the “competition” between endorsing a paan masala ad versus a condom ad, which had Kartik laughing.  

Vidya Balan says Kartik chose condom ad over paan masala

Vidya’s point was that Kartik’s choice to promote a health product rather than paan masala was commendable, prompting Kartik to laugh and say, “Please someone stop her!” Eventually, he joked, “Yes, that’s exactly what I chose. Safety first.” 

Actors who have endorsed paan masala brands

Back in 2022, Akshay Kumar faced backlash for his association with a tobacco brand. Apologising to his fans, Akshay promised to exercise more caution in the future, stepping back as the brand’s ambassador and pledging his endorsement fees to a worthy cause. However, his co-stars from the ad, Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn, have continued their associations with the brand. 

In response to similar criticism, Ajay Devgn defended his decision by framing it as a “personal choice.” Without directly naming the product, he clarified, “When you do something, you also see how harmful it would be. Somethings are harmful, some are not. I would say it without naming it because I don’t want to promote it; I was doing elaichi. What I feel is more than advertisements, if certain things are so wrong, then they should not be sold.”