Malaika- Arbaaz split stunt was for skin cream
Rumours of Malaika-Arbaaz divorce spread to whip up interest in product launch
MUMBAI:
The term event management took on a whole new meaning on Thursday when
it turned out that the morning’s “scoop” in the tabloid press of a
break-up of one of Bollywood’s longest lasting marriages was a stunt
for a product launch later in the day.
The reports of a split
between item girl-cum-actor Malaika Arora Khan and her actor husband
Arbaaz Khan had created a stir in the city. But it later emerged that
the whole thing had been the bright idea of some marketing whiz to add
fizz to the launch of a skin cream the two celebrities were endorsing.
While
speaking to DNA earlier in the evening (before the product launch)
Malaika almost admitted to the whole thing being a publicity gimmick.
“Yes, there were some rumours floated around but the tabloid put two
and two together and the story didn’t come out the way I wanted it to.
I wish the tabloids were not so impatient,” she said.
At the
launch itself in the evening, a huge drama was played out with the
couple exchanging rings and saying they would get married again if they
needed to and vowing to stay together forever.
However, not
everyone is tickled. Adman Prahlad Kakkar is aghast. “It’s a sad
reflection on society. It clearly shows that their break-up story as a
couple would attract more attention than them as individual
celebrities. These things obviously don’t work as publicity gimmicks.
It can only damage the person’s credibility. You can get away with it
only once. Tomorrow if Malaika comes on air and says some relative of
hers is terminally ill and would like people to help, would people
really want to believe it? If the celebs have become party to this,
it’s really cheap,” he said.
