Abstract

The case discusses the backlash faced by the India-based e-commerce company, Snapdeal, in the wake of its brand ambassador, film actor Aamir Khan (Aamir) expressing his concern and despondency over the rising intolerance in India. Outraged by Aamir’s comment, many Indians tagged the comment as blasphemous and demanded that Snapdeal disassociate itself from Aamir Some people also downgraded or deleted the app from their mobile devices. But the whole incident had an unexpected outcome, with a spike in the number of downloads of the Snapdeal app.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the association of the brand with its endorsers
• Learn about the vulnerability of brand image to the personal views of its endorser

Keywords

Brand endorsement, E-commerce, advertising, brand image, celebrity endorsement