BYJUs, the educational technology company has pulled all its advertisement featuring Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan following the ongoing investigation against his son in the cruise ship drugs case. Shah Rukh Khan has been BYJUs brand ambassador since 2017.
The company stopped all ads featuring Shah Rukh Khan after it faced backlash on the micro-blogging site. Since NCB conducted the raid on the luxury cruise liner on the night of October 3 and arrested Aryan Khan, the Netizens took have been calling out BYJUs for continuing its association with the actor whose son is involved in a drug case.
Netizens argued that promoting a learning app by someone who can’t teach his own child to act lawfully will reflect poorly on the company.
@BYJUS plz change ur brand ambassador. A person who cant teach his own child to behave lawfully,if seen promoting a learning app,it will set a bad image 4 app
— pinkgulaabi❤️✨ (@PriyankaJ2021) October 8, 2021
Plz rethink ur promotional strategy
Till @iamsrk is ur brand ambassador,ur app is uninstalled in my family.
Remove filmy. https://t.co/pZsHkac2Ff
@BYJUS @ByjusSupport please remove Shah Rukh Khan from your brand ambassador. pic.twitter.com/2dYCQ2mg6M
— Aditya Nandan (@N44519670Aditya) October 7, 2021
@BYJUS remove @iamsrk from advertisement as his son detained in drug case.#नशेड़ी pic.twitter.com/aR55GW4UZ4
— Sujit Hindustani (@geeta5579) October 9, 2021
If Shahrukh Khan @iamsrk had taught his own children instead of other’s children through @BYJUS, then this problem would not have come today.#ShahRukhKhan #AryanKhan pic.twitter.com/32DN6GY2b8
— Divyabhushan (@divyabhushan14) October 3, 2021
Dear @BYJUS if you still want to have @iamsrk as ur brand ambassador then I will never ever buy your products for my son. #boycottbyjus #AryanKhan #BoycottBollywood
— Gaurav Kalra 🇮🇳🇮🇳 (@gsmgaurav) October 3, 2021
BYJUs paid Shah Rukh Khan Rs 3-4 crore annually to endorse the brand
While Shah Rukh Khan is the face of a number of well-known brands, including Hyundai, LG, Dubai Tourism, ICICI Bank, and Reliance Jio, Byju’s was one of the actor’s most lucrative sponsorship partnerships. According to reports, the educational tech company paid Rs 3-4 crore annually to Shah Rukh Khan to endorse the brand.
A source privy to the development was quoted by Economic Times as saying:
“They (Byju’s) have paused all SRK-related promotions for now. It had to be pulled as the company which is in the area of education wouldn’t like to be seen in promotions with him given the controversy (over the drug case involving his son).”
“These ads were booked in advance—as is the process—so it took some time to stop all of them,” the source added.
According to the report, Byju’s had launched its new ad campaign with SRK less than three weeks ago.
Though the company has pulled SRK ads, it has not released any official statement regarding the issue. It is still not clear whether the company has temporarily pulled the ads featuring Shah Rukh Khan or has permanently dropped the actor as its brand ambassador.
According to the report, when contacted, BYJUs spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
Aryan Khan sent to judicial custody for 14 days
On Friday (October 8), a Mumbai court rejected the bail petition of Aryan Khan. As per reports, Khan was brought to the Arthur Road jail on Friday and the hearing of his bail application began at around 12:30 pm at the Esplanade Magistrate Court.
The Mumbai court had on Thursday, sent Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan to judicial custody for 14 days. Aryan Khan was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 2, in connection with the luxury cruise drug bust case.
