Bindra In The Advertisement Range

Finally the frenzy fades as the golden boy’s glorious achievement takes a back seat and the public interest moves onto Pervez Musharaff resigning from his seat.

Abhinav Bindra won the gold for 10-metre air rifle event. As far as Indian media is concerned it is an opportunity to cash in on Bindra’s achievement. Brand managements are busy gauging Bindra’s marketability to the public. It is completely a different fact that at 25, Bindra owns land worth Rs 150 crores in Chandigarh and is the CEO of Abhinav Futuristics which generates annual revenue of Rs 25 crores. So as we discuss his brand value it is important we know that he really doesn’t need the endorsement money.

Bindra is reticent and is a self-confessed “recluse”, since age 13 his only passion has been shooting. When in college he hardly shared the same interests that his peers had. His classmates do not recall Bindra ever discussing or showing interests in girls. For shooting, Bindra had shut out every possible distraction, putting in grueling hours of shooting practice each day.

So this is the guy who went out and won the gold, he pretty much lived like a saint. It is tough to imagine this shy guy stepping up on the boob-tube and say things like, “Kurkure khao, mast ho jao!” Advertisements are all about non-sense and here we have Mr. Abhinav Bindra with a total no non-sense attitude. It will hit the audience at all the wrong places and hurt the brand image.
Moreover, shooting does not have the same glamour as Bollywood or cricket. It just does not appeal as much. Noted Adman Prahlad Kakkar, candidly admitted that he would give no more than Rs 5000 to Bindra for an endorsement deal. At the same time, Alyque Padamsee suggested that a celebrity like Katrina Kaif might give Bindra the extra needed factor for the advertisement industry.

Whatever the ad industry decides, one thing is for sure, Abhinav Bindra as we know is unruffled and might hardly be interested like other celebs to endorse products with their plastic smiles. Bindra is a genuine person and is a kind of personality to who believes in “Be Yourself.”, he definitely won’t change himself, let alone get a personality make-over for the ad-industry.