In 2016, Pan Bahar, an Indian pan masala brand shook the whole world by roping in Pierce Brosnan to endorse their product. While, they hit a jackpot with the Hollywood makeover, our beloved Mr. Bond found himself surrounded not by criminals but by memes and jokes, which were hilarious to deal with.
When someone shifts from liking his vodka martini ‘shaken, not stirred’ to chewing a pan masala because ‘class never goes out of style’, there was obviously no way on earth that he could have escaped being the butt of all jokes.
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And with the conviction he endorsed the pan masala, some of us were already considering chewing this elixir of success because this is ‘Pehchan Kamyabi Ki’. I am sure the moment you heard Pierce Brosnan and Pan Bahar, you started imagining Brosnan as James Bond, introducing himself in the movie – “Mah naeeee is Booon, thooo (spits pan masala), James Bond.”
After being trolled for this endorsement, ‘The November Man’ has finally spoken. The 64-year-old actor stated that the company Pan Bahar “cheated” him and kept him in the dark about the “hazardous” nature of the product.
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After he was issued a show-cause notice, the actor sent in a written reply to the Delhi State Tobacco Control Cell. According to a report in The Times Of India, Additional Director (Health) S K Arora told PTI, “In a written reply to the Delhi State Tobacco Control Cell, the actor stated that he got cheated by the company as the latter did not disclose the hazardous nature of the product and other terms and conditions of the contract of advertisement.”
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In fact, Brosnan further said that his agreement with the brand was over, and he was ready to extend support and cooperation to the department against such campaigns. Arora further said, “He has given an undertaking in writing that he would never assist any company with regard to promotion of such products or other such harmful products in future.”He further appealed to all the celebrities to not indulge in such advertisements since they adversely influence the minds of youngsters.
Under section 5 of The Cigarette and Other Tobacco Product Act (COTPA), 2003 direct or indirect advertisement of tobacco products is banned.
Not cool, Pan Bahar, not cool.