CRPF drops idea of brand ambassador

In October last year, DT had reported how the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was on the lookout for a brand ambassador, and female sports stars like shuttlers Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu, boxer MC Mary Kom and archer Deepika Kumari were being considered. In fact, we had learnt that Kumari was the frontrunner for becoming the first female face of any uniformed force in the country. A sports celebrity as brand ambassador would have put the CRPF in the company of other armed forces who have picked sportspersons as their brand ambassadors and have even given them honorary ranks, such as Sachin Tendulkar for the Air Force and MS Dhoni for the Territorial Army.

However, perhaps learning from the experience these forces have had with their never-there ambassadors, the CRPF has dropped the idea of a celeb brand ambassador. They have instead decided to widen the pool and associate with different personalities for different events, and not stick to any one face to help them reach the masses. Dilip Trivedi, DG, CRPF, told DT, "We want to associate with different personalities for our events. The aim is to reach out to the masses, and celebs are the people who help achieve that. If we get a brand ambassador, there will only be one face which people will identify with. If the person is busy with tournaments, he/she won't be able to spare time to be a part of different activities. We have more or less dropped the idea of having a brand ambassador for the CRPF as of now."

The CRPF's reluctance to associate with any single celeb might be explained by the reluctance sportspersons have shown in carrying out their brand ambassador duties for the forces so far. A sports star in a uniform as an honorary rank holder might make for a great photo-op, but it has resulted in little after that, which is perhaps why the BSF, which was earlier said to be considering giving Virat Kohli an honorary rank, stopped at only the brand ambassador-ship.
DT presents the rather weak attendance sheet of celebrity ambassadors of the uniformed forces.

Virat Kohli It was with huge hype and fanfare that Virat Kohli was appointed the brand ambassador of the Border Security Force (BSF) last September. Kohli, who was still the swashbuckling stud of Team India then, would even be accorded an honorary rank later, it was heard. However, almost a year since, Virat hasn't been able to find the time to attend any event hosted by the force. That could be the reason why we haven't seen Virat as an honorary BSF officer yet, but now, given his current beating at the hands of England, are they sure they even want to retain him?

Sachin Tendulkar Tendulkar was inducted as an honorary Group Captain in 2010 by the Indian Air Force, making him the first person with no aviation background to get the rank. But given how busy he was nearing his retirement, it was reported in 2012 that the IAF had decided to end the association. The reports surfaced after news broke of the IAF using photos of their Pilatus aircraft to attract people to sign up instead of using Sachin's images. However, the IAF had denied ending its association with the batsman, saying that he hadn't been able to spare time for the IAF due to his conflicting dates. Their association may perhaps be described as the equivalent of the couple who deny divorce rumours but are never spotted together, either.

MS Dhoni Fresh from their World Cup win, the Team India captain was made an honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army in November 2011 for his leadership skills, which were found to be very close to the Army's style. Three years later, Dhoni's leadership skills are under a cloud, and so is his brand ambassador attendance. Even the TA isn't sure how many times he has showed up for events hosted by them. Dhoni had met Army jawans on the border in 2012, but post that, it seems his cricket - and commerce - kept him away from fulfilling his duties for the TA. In fact, in 2012, when the skipper gave the annual Territorial Army Day parade a miss, a lot of doubts were voiced about whether celebrities should be accorded any ranks in the armed forces.

Abhinav Bindra Along with Dhoni, shooter Abhinav Bindra was also conferred the honorary rank of Lt Col in the Territorial Army. Just like Dhoni, Abhinav has also been conspicuous by his absence at events hosted by the Territorial Army, who weren't sure whether Bindra has attended any of their events either.

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