Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has warned that celebrities, advertisers and companies can all face action over surrogate advertising, signalling a broader enforcement drive against promotions linked to prohibited food and tobacco-related products.
Mundhe defended the regulator’s action against actors Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff over their appearance in an advertisement for Vimal Elaichi. The FDA contends that the campaign may constitute indirect promotion of Vimal Pan Masala, whose sale is prohibited in Maharashtra. The actors have been issued show-cause notices and given 15 days to respond.
“Everybody across the chain is responsible. It applies to all,” Mundhe said while discussing the enforcement action. He added that “nobody is going to be spared”, making clear that celebrity status would not provide an exemption when advertising regulations were considered to have been breached.
The regulator’s position substantially raises the stakes for celebrity endorsements because responsibility is being viewed beyond the manufacturer or owner of a product. Advertising agencies, endorsers and others involved in creating or disseminating promotional material could come within regulatory scrutiny where an advertisement is considered misleading or a surrogate for a prohibited product.
The notices concern Vimal Elaichi, a cardamom product that can legally be sold. The FDA’s objection centres on whether use of the Vimal brand and its association with pan masala effectively keeps the prohibited product visible to consumers. Surrogate advertising generally involves promoting an unrestricted product using branding closely associated with another product whose advertising or sale is restricted.
The FDA has asked the three actors to stop promoting the product, remove promotional material from their social-media accounts and provide information concerning their involvement in the campaign. As of the latest available information, the actors and the company behind the brand had not publicly responded to the notices.
The enforcement action is being pursued under food-safety provisions governing false or misleading advertisements. Section 24 of the Food Safety and Standards Act prohibits misleading or deceptive advertisements relating to food and bars claims that falsely represent a product’s quality, quantity or usefulness. Separate consumer-protection rules also place responsibilities on endorsers to exercise due diligence before participating in advertisements.
Maharashtra has maintained restrictions on gutka and pan masala as part of its public-health policy, giving the FDA a wider enforcement role covering manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and promotion of prohibited products. The latest dispute tests how far authorities can extend that framework when an advertisement ostensibly promotes a permitted product while retaining the branding of a prohibited one.
Celebrity endorsements have become a central concern because of their ability to reinforce brand recognition among large audiences. Pan masala and related products have long relied on high-profile film and sports personalities for advertising campaigns. Companies have increasingly marketed cardamom, mouth fresheners and other permissible goods under the same or similar brands, creating continuing disputes over whether such campaigns constitute legitimate advertising or indirect promotion.
The controversy surrounding Vimal has surfaced before. Actor Akshay Kumar withdrew from an endorsement association with the brand in 2022 after criticism and apologised to his supporters. Ajay Devgn has previously maintained that his endorsement related to cardamom rather than a prohibited product, illustrating the distinction advertisers and celebrities have drawn between the advertised item and other products carrying the same branding.
Mundhe’s approach indicates that the FDA intends to examine that distinction more closely instead of treating the advertised product in isolation. Officials are examining whether presentation, branding and consumer association effectively promote goods barred from sale in the state.
The celebrity notices form part of a wider enforcement campaign since Mundhe took charge of the FDA in May. The administration has intensified inspections involving food safety, adulteration, hygiene standards, prohibited gutka and misleading advertisements. Mundhe said more than 8,000 complaints from the public had been resolved within a month, reflecting an effort to make complaint handling a major component of enforcement.
