Tagore Endorsed Brands - Had Nationalist Agenda

 

The Nobel Laureate Rabindranath featured in over 100 advertisements, promoting ghee to face creams to harmoniums.

Nationalist Agenda

Almost all the companies or products that the creator of "Gitanajali" endorsed were by indigenous companies who struggled to compete with foreign or established brands. He considered it his duty to support the Swadeshi enterprises. It was his nationalist agenda. The ads covered a wide variety of products, including books, stationery, medicines, cosmetics, food products and musical instruments.

The Western World thought it was impossible to substitute animal fat, in the soap-making process. But Ardeshir Godrej seized the opportunity and in 1919, launched the world’s first pure-vegetarian soap, made from vegetable oil extracts. The brand was called Chavi. The Godrej soap ad featuring Tagore's photograph appeared in a host of newspapers across the country.

Endorsing Radium Snow cream, Tagore wrote that those who use beauty products like snow, cream and perfumery products will find it as good as the foreign ones. The company no more exists now.

He promoted Sri Ghrita, one Bengali institution that still survives.

He used and also appreciated Jalajoga, sweetmeat and curd (dadhi). The organisation still uses Tagore's name in their marketing communication.

Another one of them was Dwarkin & Son - one of the oldest companies in India and credited with inventing the Indian harmonium.

Tagore had also endorsed a firm by the name of  Napier’s Paint Works. 

A company Senola Records, paper merchants Bholanath Dutt & Sons Ltd also used his name and fame.

Other Brands

In spite of his nationalist agenda Tagore, however, did appear in an ad of Bournvita - a chocolate beverage manufactured by British multinational Cadbury

Arunkumar Roy, who is researching Tagore in advertisements, says that going through publications between 1889 and 1941, the year of Tagore’s death, he came across about 90 such advertisements. The poet is estimated to have featured in more than a hundred advertisements.

His name and fame was used by individuals like Amar Krishna Ghosh, as well who contested the local board election of the Reserve Bank in 1935, came up with ads containing Tagore's blessings.

He also had endorsed insurance companies including the Hindusthan Co-Operative Insurance Society Limited floated by his own family in 1919.

The advertisements appeared mostly in magazines and journals such as Probasi, Basumati, Calcutta Municipal Gazette, Bhandar, Shonibarer Chithi, Sadhana, Tattvabodhini Patrika, etc., and in the newspapers Anandabazar Patrika, Amritabazar Patrika, The Statesman and Advance.