MAM
Pantene Brand ambassador Katrina Kaif in new ad campaign
MUMBAI: Having done a number of short term assignments already with Pantene, Bollywood hopeful Katrina Kaif has now been signed on as the official brand ambassador of the shampoo major.
Katrina will appear in a new advertising blitz featuring a new finding: ’80 per cent of India’s most beautiful women prefer Pantene’, it was announced today. The data has been culled form a recent study on ‘Hair Care Practices of India’s Most Beautiful Women’ conducted by market research major ACNielsen in association with magazine “Cosmopolitan”. Katrina joins Pantene’s league of past celebrity endorses which includes Sonali Bendre, Bipasha Basu, Shilpa Shetty, Amrita Rao, Anupama Verma and Tara Deshpande.
Chester Twigg, Director – Sales and Marketing, (P&G India) said, “…we have signed her (Katrina) on as Pantene’s official brand ambassador. She will appear in an ad campaign featuring the finding ’80 per cent of India’s Most Beautiful Women prefer Pantene’ – a re-affirmation of Pantene being a shampoo of choice.”
ACNielsen was commissioned to carry out a study on “Hair Care Practices of India’s Most Beautiful Women” during the period September – December 2004. The first phase of the study entailed a house-to-house quantitative study among 1,000 respondents across ten metro towns to identify the 100 most beautiful women in India from the field of performing arts.
In the second phase Cosmopolitan magazine helped ACNielsen contact a sample of 100 most beautiful women identified in phase one for telephonic interviews conducted by ACNielsen on aspects such as: importance of hair in one’s personality; their personal hair tips; opinions and preference among leading premium* beauty shampoos (priced at Rs.50/- & above for 100 ml). To avoid any bias ACNielsen did not interview women with existing endorsement contracts for any beauty brands, including those of P&G. Subsequent to the interviews, one of the findings that emerged was “80 per cent of India’s Most Beautiful Women prefer Pantene.”
Brands
Jubilant FoodWorks faces Rs 47.5 crore GST demand, plans appeal
Tax authorities flag alleged misclassification of restaurant services
MUMBAI:Â Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has landed in a tax tussle after receiving a GST demand of Rs 47.5 crore from the office of the additional commissioner of CGST and central excise in Thane, Maharashtra.
The order, issued under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, relates to an alleged incorrect classification of certain services under the category of restaurant services. According to the tax authorities, this classification resulted in a short payment of goods and services tax for the period between the financial years 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The demand includes Rs 47.5 crore in GST along with an equal amount as penalty, in addition to applicable interest. The order was received by the company on March 13, 2026.
In a regulatory filing to the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, the company said it disagrees with the order and believes its arguments were not adequately considered.
The company is preparing to challenge the decision and plans to file an appeal. It added that once the redressal process is complete, the demand is likely to be dropped.
Despite the sizeable figure attached to the notice, the company said it does not expect any material impact on its financials, operations or other activities.
The disclosure was signed by Suman Hegde, EVP and chief financial officer, who confirmed that the company received the order at 19:06 IST on March 13 and has already initiated steps to contest it.
The development places the quick service restaurant major in the middle of a tax debate that could hinge on how certain restaurant-linked services are classified under GST rules. For now, the company appears ready to take the matter from the tax office to the appeals desk.
