In India, the celebrity endorsement scenario underwent drastic changes during the first half of 2025. The latest report from TAM AdEx states that the number of brands endorsed through celebrities is decreasing, with reductions in ad volume of 12% when compared to 2023. Brands today are appearing to combine star power with campaigns featuring non-celebrity stars.
Cricketers Remains a Top Pick for Brands
From January to June 2025, 71% of ads on TV utilized non-celebrities, and 29% celebrities. Among those that went celebrity-wise, film stars dominated with 74%, compared to sports persons at 19% and TV celebrities at 7%.
Despite film stars dominating the numbers, Cricketing stars remain brands' top choice too. MS Dhoni led with the highest number of ads for 43 brands. Others that featured among top endorsement names were Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid. The count of brands endorsed by Dhoni which was 42 last year has gone up, exhibiting his strong charm even after he stepped away from international cricket five years ago.
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Celebrity Couples Boost Brand Power
Like cricketers, celebrity couples are still a charter member of ad land. Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli together endorsed 19 brands, placing second after Deepika Padukone–Ranveer Singh (23) and Akshay Kumar–Twinkle Khanna (20). These three celebrity couples accounted for 40% of the ad volume of all celebrity couples.
Visibility Insights
The leading visibility position was yet again within the movie star domain, with Shah Rukh Khan enjoying the most visibility among TV ad stars with 27 hours screen time, followed by Dhoni on 22. Next on the leaders' chart were Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Rahul Dravid with Ananya Panday.
While Bollywood stars, namely Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar, still lead, cricket stars are very much in the picture with MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rahul Dravid calling the shots in ad campaigns in India.
