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Row erupts over choice of Tamannah as face of Mysore Sandal soap


Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, May 23, 2025: The Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd’s (KSDL) decision to appoint Tollywood actress Tamannaah Bhatia as the brand ambassador for Mysore Sandal Soaps and other products for two years and two days by paying her Rs 6.20 crore has received criticism for not selecting Sandalwood actors.

The notification, issued by the Finance Department approving the proposal submitted by the Commerce and Industries Department, has even given 4 (G) exemption to appoint the actress as the official ambassador for the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd.


Mysore Sandal-Tamanna


Social activist Marilingegowda Mali Patil has written a letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to raise objections to the appointment.

In the letter, Patil has questioned the reason for choosing a non-Kannada actress as an ambassador.


“I request the chief minister to direct the department concerned to cancel the decision taken to appoint a non-Kannada actress as ambassador. This is an insult to the Sandalwood,” he stated in the letter.

Some Kannada activists have even tried to attract the attention of the chief minister by giving examples of Sandalwood actor Puneeth Rajkumar, who was ambassador for KMF’s Nandini brand without taking any money and Daali Dhananjaya who is popularising Lidkar brand free of cost.

Meanwhile, some have posted messages on their social media accounts tagging the minister for Industries M B Patil and questioned why the actress from other language was roped in?

Some even tagged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, asking them to reveal their stand on Kannada, Kannadigas and Karnataka.

Defending the decision, Minister Patil, however, said on his X account, “Mysore Sandal Soap intends to also penetrate markets beyond Karnataka aggressively.”

“KSDL has deepest respect and regards for the Kannada film industry. Some Kannada films are giving competition to even Bollywood films. Mysore Sandal is a very good brand recall within Karnataka. It shall be strengthened. However, Mysore Sandal Soap intends to also penetrate markets beyond Karnataka aggressively. The pride of Karnataka is also a jewel of the Nation. Hence, it’s an independent strategic decision of the PSU board after consulting various marketing experts. To choose a brand ambassador, it takes a lot of deliberation and also considerations,” he said.



He also mentioned that the vision for KSDL is to touch Rs 5,000 crore annual revenue by 2028.

The minister further justified the decision, pointing at the following factors: Availability for any given category (If they have a non-compete agreement), social media presence, most importantly, coherence with the brand, product and target audience and marketing fit and reach.