January 22, 2025

James Bond is always at ease, smooth as silk even in the trickiest of situations. Guns, goons and gadgets or girls, nothing can make him drop his guard. But he met his match in Kanpur, of all the places. Pierce Bronson, the British star who played Bond with a fair degree of aplomb, signed up to promote Pan Bahar, a chewing ‘mouth refresher’ that contains supari, katha and other harmful chemicals. While the product does not contain tobacco, cancer surgeons in India have certified that it is still carcinogenic and is known to have caused cancer in many habitual chewers.

Bronson, who said he had lost his first wife and numerous friends to the dreaded disease, was immediately apologetic for the slip. He said that he had been tricked and the company was using his images for that particular product deceptively and without authorization. Bronson stated that his contract was to promote “breath freshener/tooth whitener (and) all-natural, containing neither tobacco, supari, nor any other harmful ingredient”. Pan Bahar a tooth whitener? This must be the biggest product deception in centuries!

Bronson claimed that the company, Pan Bahar, in violation of his contract, had “grossly manipulated” the advertising campaign to make it seem that the former James Bond star endorsed its entire product line. “I shall endeavour to rectify this matter,” he said. “In the meantime please accept my sincerest and heartfelt apologies to all whom I have offended.”

It is clear from the controversy that either Bronson’s agents did not do their homework properly and rushed the star into promoting something that has a huge and accessible literature detailing its harmful effects on the internet or the paycheck was too large to be ignored. But to be fair to Bronson, top Indian stars like Shahrukh Khan (Pan Vilas) and Ajay Devgan (Vimal) also endorse similar products. The only difference is that while most stars abroad are very careful about their image and do not like to be associated with products that can imperil health, some Indian stars have no qualms about endorsing the same.

In any case, the last of this controversy has not been heard. One is sure if Bronson took a fat paycheck and was deceived into endorsing something he did not sign up for, his lawyers are going to make Pan Bahar pay for their game. This is one mistake, if indeed it is that for many are not buying Bronson's argument, the makers of Pan Bahar are likely to rue for the rest of their lives.