Suhel Seth to Kiran Bedi: Celebrities must check brands they endorse

Note: Suhel Seth has confirmed he has returned thehonorary degree

“A few months back, on NDTV, Suhel Seth suggested that formal degrees have no meaning. His ignorance of the real world for most career and job aspirants was appalling. By accepting a doctorate from a university that is most likely to abuse it to reach out to ignorant students, he has again shown his ignorance as also his lure for citations and recognitions. How i wish our celebrities acted a bit responsibly and did their homework,” Maheshwar Peri, CEO of Careers 360, posted on his Facebook page.

He took care to tag Suhel Seth (who is reasonably active on Facebook) to ensure that the update was seen. Peri also links to pages that underline the lack of credibility the university enjoys .

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Peri also links to the page of the Rai Foundation’s web site, which shows a photograph of a beaming Suhel Seth after receiving an honorary doctorate.

[caption id=“attachment_1261613” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  A photograph of a beaming Suhel Seth after receiving an honorary doctorate.[/caption]

“Padma Shri Dr. A. Sankara Reddy, Provost and Vice Chancellor of Rai University, conferred honorary degrees to Suhel Seth, a marketing wizard; Kiran Bedi, a social activist and the first woman to join Indian Police Service; Priti Paul, director of Apeejay Surrendra Group; and Ritu Beri, International fashion designer; for outstanding contributions in their chosen fields. In his welcome note, Dr. Reddy said, “We take great pride in conferring on Kiran Bedi, Preeti Paul, Ritu Beri, and Suhel Seth Honorary Doctorate Degrees in recognition of their yeoman’s service to the society in their respective fields.”

Reacting to Peri’s post, Seth said on the timeline, I had no clue…will return this immediately.” To this, Peri says, “Bravo Suhel Seth.”

It’s not just Seth. Kiran Bedi, Priti Paul and Ritu Beri should all publicly announce that they have returned the doctorates.

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They have all been chosen by Rai because of their celebrity status and the attendant rub-off of credibility that Rai will get from the publicity accruing out of the granting of the doctorates.

None of the four seems to have bothered to check on the reputation of Rai before they agreed to accept the honour - and they should have.

Sachin Tendulkar famously endorsed a financial services brand, Home Trade, which went bust and left investors in the lurch. Since then, one understands, he does a lot of homework before agreeing to any association with a brand.

Anna Hazare committed a similar blunder of not doing his homework when he got Arindam Chaudhuri to share the stage with him during his famous fast.

Celebrities need to understand their own ability to influence lay citizens and consumers and, consequently, the responsibility that rests on their shoulders.

An act like the current one, where Seth and the others accept an award from a body with dubious credentials is tantamount to endorsement, even if none of the four has received any compensation. It is endorsement by association - as powerful and impactful as endorsement done for commercial considerations.

Hopefully, Suhel Seth would have communicated his decision to Rai by now. Can you please do the same, Kiran Bedi, Priti Paul and Ritu Beri?