For those in the business circuit, Darpan Singh, is not a new name. Currently seen in Amazon's Pitch to Get Rich, Darpan was the founder and CEO of GoodGlam that made beauty products. It was under his leadership that the company went from a new brand to being a unicorn. The trick that helped them go viral - bringing male actor Sidharth Malhotra for their lipstick brand.
Alia - Kareena's exorbitant fee
It was during a recent interaction with Think School Hindi by Zero1, that Darpan Singh spoke about what led to bringing the Student of The Year actor as the face of the brand. He revealed that they were working on a tight budget of Rs 30-40 lakh while A-listers like Alia Bhatt or Kareena Kapoor Khan demanded somewhere between Rs 50 lakh to 1 crore.
Singh further said that these actresses demanded to be locked in for at least three days or sometimes even years. Something which their monetary situation didn't permit them to do at that point of time. And thus, they came up with the idea of bringing in an actor and choose the unconventional path.
How Sid came onboard
"We had very little money. If we approached a top actress, her per-day rate was between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore. And most of them wouldn't sign for less than a three-day contract. Once they endorse a beauty brand, it blocks that category for them, so they demand long-term deals — sometimes up to three years. We simply couldn't afford that," he said.
"Then I thought, 'why not get a male celebrity to endorse a beauty product, specifically lipstick? A male movie star never gets a lipstick contract, so his opportunity cost is zero. It doesn't affect his brand endorsements. He's more likely to agree for a short, half-day shoot at a reasonable cost. Plus, no one had ever used a male star to promote lipstick before — that alone would make it stand out," he said.
Darpan Singh added that they got Sidharth Malhotra onboard with lipstick marks all over him. Since the government of India had banned testing on animals, they came up with a powerful line which went viral - "Tested on Sid, not on animals".
The ad broke boundaries, shattered stereotypes and turned out to be a complete disruptor. However, on being asked if Ranveer Singh was also a choice, Singh laughed in the interview and said that the actor wouldn't have been affordable giving the budget they had.
