He might be the world’s suavest spy, outsmarting government agencies and with terrorist organizations equal ease, but he seems to have met his match in a Pan Masala brand.
Pierce Brosnan, who’s best known for playing James Bond on screen, has now said that he was deceived into advertising for Pan Bahar. The Pan Masala ad featuring Brosnan had broken the internet last week, with netizens amused and aghast in equal measure at the mustachioed actor beating baddies over a pack of Pan Bahar. Brosnan says that he wasn’t aware that he was advertising for a product that contained tobacco and caused cancer.
Brosnan said that his contract stated that he was to advertise a “breath freshener/tooth whitener,” which wouldn’t include an ingredient that turns saliva red, People Magazine reported. The product was presented as “all-natural containing neither tobacco, supari, nor any other harmful ingredient.”
“As a man who has spent decades championing women’s healthcare and environmental protection, I was distressed to learn of Pan Bahar’s unauthorized and deceptive use of my image to endorse their range of pan masala products,” 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 programs that improve human health and alleviate suffering.”
“I would never have entered into an agreement to promote a product in India that is dangerous to one’s health,” he added.
The Pan Bahar campaign had earlier run into trouble when it was reportedly banned from television from promoting the use of tobacco.
Brosnan, too, wants to set the record straight. He says he has demanded a removal of his image from all its products. “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.”