Customer Registers FIR against Askmebazaar.com Brand Ambassadors Ranbir and Farhan

swatkats

Skilled
An FIR has been registered against Bollywood actors Farhan Akhtar and Ranbir Kapoor for criminal breach of trust and forgery for promoting an online shopping site which is allegedly 'duping' customers.

The FIR has been registered by a lawyer Rajat Bansal, a resident of Keshav Nagar area in Madiyaon police station, about 10 km from here, against Farhan and Ranbir under IPC sections 406 (forgery) and 420 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) on September 19, police said.

An FIR under the same sections has been lodged against directors of online portal askmebazaar.com - Sanjiv Gupta, Anand Sonbhadra, Piyush Pankaj, Kiran Kumar Sriniwas Murti and marketing officer Puja Goyal.

Mr Bansal in his FIR alleged that he had ordered a 40-inch LED TV from the site on August 23 and had paid Rs 29,999 for the same through his debit card, but he did not get the product within 10 days, as promised.

He alleged that because Farhan and Ranbir promoted the site, people' fell in the trap' of the site.

Police is probing the matter. The officials of the portal could not be contacted.

Source: http://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/ranbir-kapoor-farhan-akhtar-named-in-fir-accused-of-forgery-1220207

Update:
I am not a part of askmebazaar.com: Ranbir Kapoor on FIR against him http://indianexpress.com/article/en...ebazaar-com-ranbir-kapoor-on-fir-against-him/
 
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wai..t...so this site is actually crap? much wow. I never knew. :O
I thought it would be good with all the PR and ads.
 
Despite of lot of Ads on Web and as well as in papers recently, I never got tempted knowing it's just a marketing company than a delivering one.

Took it as a pinch of salt cuz never heard of it from any one in the circle.
 
Is the world getting stupider? Why not sue the company instead. Don't these guys understand what a model's job is?
+1 to this. Similar situation with Maggi in which some morons sued the ambassadors. :/
But knowing how we Indians are like they will probably say "BUT they could've been more careful about what they endorse" its like treading on a thin line.
 
Is the world getting stupider? Why not sue the company instead. Don't these guys understand what a model's job is?
I don't think so, anybody and everybody who benefited from the scam can be sued. It's almost like aiding a crime. It is the responsibility of the celebrity to prove his innocence and his association with the company. Many a times it may not be just a monetary remuneration; they might have been offered a part of a stake in the company.

International guidelines are quite clear, celebrity responsibility is much beyond just the ad he makes.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/pre...al-guides-governing-endorsements-testimonials

http://itwofs.com/beastoftraal/2010/10/21/why-cant-we-sue-a-brand-ambassador-like-aamir-khan/

More on Indian POV

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/...g-products-in-misleading-advertisements-43430

I'm not a expert on this, someone with legal expertise can share their POV.
But, the fact that an FIR and a case has been registered indicates that there's a provision for this.

Also had they not included the celebrity names in FIR, this news wouldn't have seen a space on MSM, which can be easily bought by the perpetrators of the scam. The company could've continued to dupe the customers unabated. So they've done a correct thing by naming the celebrities.

Celebrities who got benefited from endorsing a scam company should be careful and prove their innocence.
 
^While i agree with your comment I dont think the celebs would actually know about the "internal" issues with the brand which they endorse. "Thou shall not get involve in our business in any other way except only during your endorsement ads" might be there in their agreement. I guess something like trust issues.
 
^While i agree with your comment I dont think the celebs would actually know about the "internal" issues with the brand which they endorse. "Thou shall not get involve in our business in any other way except only during your endorsement ads" might be there in their agreement. I guess something like trust issues.
I do ascertain that both the celebrities may not be actively involved in the company. But, they'll have to prove the extent of their association with the company.

Why do we take their innocence for granted? Just because they're celebrities? Tomorrow say a picture of a politician in a party (Say Union Minister) with the owners of the company surfaces, we'll cry & demand his /HER resignation immediately. Our mindset is very much influenced by MSM & Bollywood instead of a factual analysis.

Ideally the celebrities should put a disclaimer with every product Ad they endorse, saying ' I'm not sure about the results of the product I'm selling' whatever I'm saying and doing is a part of the script, contents of which, I'm not responsible '- imagine the fate of celebrity endorsement thereafter. (just like mutual funds are subject to market risks etc.)
 
Why do we take their innocence for granted? Just because they're celebrities?
if a company is using a face (celeb) to connect with us then it's natural for people to target that celeb. i don't watch TV, so i haven't seen the ad but i am pretty sure that Ranbir and Farhan would've asked people to buy from askmebazaar. if they are urging us to buy something from a fraudulent website then both the actors are idiots. :p

brand endorsements work both ways - celebs need to trust/respect the brand and vice-versa. have you forgotten the famous case of Tiger Woods? or the not so famous case of 50 Cent? When companies found out that Tiger Woods wasn't trustable, they promptly shunned their ties with him and ads were changed overnight. 50 Cent found out Taco Bell was using his name (fame) without his knowledge, he sued and won.

Good celebs don't want to be associated with shady companies and good companies don't want shady celebs. i see nothing wrong in the FIR against actors and owners.

^While i agree with your comment I dont think the celebs would actually know about the "internal" issues with the brand which they endorse. "Thou shall not get involve in our business in any other way except only during your endorsement ads" might be there in their agreement. I guess something like trust issues.
celebs with brains endorse only those products/companies in which they believe or use themselves. celebs with no-brains should understand that we trust them when we use the products they endorse. so, in turn, celebs should also trust those products/companies.
 
if a company is using a face (celeb) to connect with us then it's natural for people to target that celeb. i don't watch TV, so i haven't seen the ad but i am pretty sure that Ranbir and Farhan would've asked people to buy from askmebazaar. if they are urging us to buy something from a fraudulent website then both the actors are idiots. [emoji14]

brand endorsements work both ways - celebs need to trust/respect the brand and vice-versa. have you forgotten the famous case of Tiger Woods? or the not so famous case of 50 Cent? When companies found out that Tiger Woods wasn't trustable, they promptly shunned their ties with him and ads were changed overnight. 50 Cent found out Taco Bell was using his name (fame) without his knowledge, he sued and won.

Good celebs don't want to be associated with shady companies and good companies don't want shady celebs. i see nothing wrong in the FIR against actors and owners.


celebs with brains endorse only those products/companies in which they believe or use themselves. celebs with no-brains should understand that we trust them when we use the products they endorse. so, in turn, celebs should also trust those products/companies.
Glad that you brought the Tiger Woods & 50 Cents case into discussion.
Hrithik ran into trouble with a fraud company called Home Trade few years ago.

Just think, even in today's internet enabled generation ; how many people would have actually checked the credentials of the company before ordering & how many would've ordered just by the influence of celebrity endorsement? The latter will be in a clear majority.

As far as celebrities are concerned, they should understand that ; with great power comes a great responsibility.
 
with great power comes a great responsibility.

and with great money promptly goes/is sent packing away the great responsibility. :p
if not for others, atleast for their own sake the celebrities and 'socialites' should check the credentials of a company before endorsing its products/services, to avoid getting entangled in the legal-loop later on; which could be another reason why its good to have legal provisions to rope in all and sundry associated with the marketing. but i guess their managers mostly must be doing all such work of weighing cheques and clearing deals, etc. caution needs to be exercised here by the busy-bots.
 
guys askmebazaar is not as reliable as you people say. i work for a logistics company and we do logistics for a few e comm sites. daily we process and ship thousands of askmebazaar shipments. one thing il tell you is that majority of delays/cancellations happen due to wrong addresses and pincodes. then come authorities/police who randomly seize transport vehicles demanding bribes. one of our warehouses pays 30k bribe monthly.
 
guys askmebazaar is not as reliable as you people say. i work for a logistics company and we do logistics for a few e comm sites. daily we process and ship thousands of askmebazaar shipments. one thing il tell you is that majority of delays/cancellations happen due to wrong addresses and pincodes. then come authorities/police who randomly seize transport vehicles demanding bribes. one of our warehouses pays 30k bribe monthly.

that's good general info.
 
My ex co. had done digital marketing for these guys, I've met the investor SG as they call him. Basically theres a Malaysian group called astro that invests in the worst possible co.s here in India. They bought Getit which was a shitty classifieds site which then went and bought askme with hope that their valuation will increase, getitbazaar became ask me bazaar using kangana and ranbir same shitty products tho. Here are the co.s under the same group.
To the new/ignitee/tangarine - agency
American swan - shitty clothes, all indian.
Askme and getit.
#fame the entire scam of fame channels on youtube
Amongst others
 
guys askmebazaar is not as reliable as you people say. i work for a logistics company and we do logistics for a few e comm sites. daily we process and ship thousands of askmebazaar shipments. one thing il tell you is that majority of delays/cancellations happen due to wrong addresses and pincodes. then come authorities/police who randomly seize transport vehicles demanding bribes. one of our warehouses pays 30k bribe monthly.

That is quite an useful Info Mr India...
Mugambo Khush hua..

Police and Govt are the biggest HAFTA Takers in this country & Presstitutes make money by Blackmailing them !! What all Modi can change ? unless our regressive mentality changes.
No business is immune to them, not even ECom I understand now.
 
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