Brands endorsed by celebs tainted by drug abuse will suffer: IIHB report

The Indian Institute of Human Brands has revealed findings from a research it conducted on 12 and 13 September about celebrities being named in the media with regards to drug consumption.

 

Even though 54% of the 487 respondents were not surprised that celebrities use drugs, 85% of the respondents claimed that they will stop buying brands endorsed by celebrities who have been proven to be consuming drugs.

 

82% of the respondents in the 18-30 year age cohort said drug abuse by a celebrity made them ‘untrustworthy’.

 

While respondents mentioned that they believed most celebrities do drugs, till their drug usage is not known publicly, they cannot be singled out for blame or boycott.

 

Other than the names of the actors in the news - Sara Ali Khan, Rakul Preet Singh, Rhea Chakaborty and Simone Khambatta names of many other Bollywood, cricket and television celebrities were also mentioned according to IIHB. When told that these names are not in the media, 62% respondents said they knew those names from their social media groups.   

 

Sandeep Goyal, chief mentor, IIHB, said, “The drug abuse allegations could devastate the celebrity landscape. Drugs create a halo of negativity, by-and-large not condoned by society. What would be interesting is so to see how brand managers react. With 25 celebrities on the NCB list, a lot of reputations may get impacted.”