Brosnan’s fury over Indian ‘cancer advert’
PIERCE Brosnan says he was deceived into fronting adverts for a ‘tooth whitener’ that turned out to be a chewing product linked to mouth cancer.
The 63-year-old actor, famed for his role as James Bond, appeared in an Indian advert reprising his role as a dashing spy.
Bearded and wearing a tuxedo, he endorsed a brand of pan masala called Pan Bahar, turning to the screen and saying, ‘Class never goes out of style’.
But he now claims he was not made aware that many Indians associate pan masala with a highly addictive form of chewing tobacco.
Mr Brosnan has asked Ashok & Co, the company that produces Pan Bahar, to remove his image from their advertising, though the product he is pictured with does not actually contain tobacco.
Pan masala, a mixture of spices, leaves and nuts, is chewed and then spat out in bright red streams by millions of people in India, who can get addicted to its mildly psychotropic effects. It has been associated with red spit stains on the country’s walls and pavements, leading many to view it as unhygienic.
Angry social media users condemned the actor, with some accusing him of ‘promoting cancer’ by endorsing Pan Bahar.
Brosnan insists that he was ‘deceived’ and his contract said he was endorsing ‘breath freshener’ or ‘tooth whitener’ containing ‘neither tobacco... nor any other harmful ingredient’.
He told People Magazine: ‘I would never have entered an agreement to promote a product in India that is dangerous to one’s health.’
Many types of pan masala do contain tobacco but the specific product that Brosnan was promoting does not, though it has come under criticism that it had been used to circumvent India’s advertising ban on similar tobacco products.
The Delhi government wrote to a number of Bollywood’s top stars asking them to stop promoting pan masala and other tobacco-related products, as a way to reduce the influence of the stimulant.
Brosnan further accused the company, saying that it had ‘manipulated’ media agencies into thinking he was an ambassador for the product, and apologised to anyone he may have offended, mentioning his own losses due to cancer.
He said: ‘Having endured, in my own personal life, the loss of my first wife and daughter as well as numerous friends to cancer, I am fully committed to supporting women’s healthcare and research programmes that improve human health and alleviate suffering.’
Ashok & Co was not available to make further comment.
‘Highly addictive form of chewing tobacco’