Deepika, Rashmika's Busy Schedules Made KSDL Turn to Tamannaah Bhatia as Brand Ambassador, Says Minister
Tamannaah Bhatia for Rs 6.2 crore was finalized on Wednesday and she will promote the products of Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited for a period of two-years and two-days.
Bengaluru:Popular Bollywood actresses Deepika Padukon and Rashmika Mandanna, having their origin in Karnataka, were among the first actresses to be contacted promote products of Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL), a State Government undertaking, but busy schedules of both the actresses made KSDL officials to turn to Hindi/Telugu actress Tamannaah Bhatia to be the brand ambassador of Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited, stated Minister of Large and Medium Scale Industries M.B. Patil on Friday.
The agreement with Tamannaah Bhatia for Rs 6.2 crore was finalized on Wednesday and she will promote the products of Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited for a period of two-years and two-days. The choice of Tamannaah Bhatia by Karnataka Soaps and Detergents drew flak from pro-Kannada activists and from onliners who demanded cancellation of agreement and to replace Bhatia with one of the young actresses belonging to Kannada.
Patil said Deepika Padukone is already promoting other cosmetics and her busy schedule for next two-years made her decline the offer to her by KSDL.
Even actresses Puja Hedge, Kiara Advani and Sreeleela were also contacted to be the brand ambassador of KSDL and all these actresses are already into promotion of other brands and stated their busy schedules.
While choosing Tamannaah Bhatia, Patil said Bhatia has 28 millions followers on her social networking site and her pan India huge fan following base was also considered prior to finalising her for the brand ambassador role of KSDL.
The Minister appealed to Kannadigas not to view the selection with a negative mindset and stated “The intent of Mysore Soaps and Detergents is to penetrate markets beyond Karnataka aggressively.” Adding, the Minister termed the decision to pick Tamannaah Bhatia as the brand ambassador “a strategic decision of the Public Sector Undertaking board after consulting various marketing experts.”