When ministers sell soap, governance loses its shine

 A front-page advertisement for Mysore Sandal Soap featuring the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and the Industries Minister would have been questionable at any time. In the present circumstances, it is simply indefensible.

Mysore Sandal is a government-owned commercial product, not a welfare scheme and not a public service that demands official explanation. If the aim was to boost sales, the logic of advertising is straightforward: product, brand legacy and the hired film celebrity as brand ambassador. That should have been enough. The inclusion of ministers adds no commercial value whatsoever. Instead, it muddies the message and turns a product promotion into a display of political presence, funded by the taxpayer.

The timing makes matters worse. The government soap factory is already facing allegations of financial mismanagement and excessive political interference. Opposition parties have argued that professional autonomy has been compromised by political control. In such a backdrop, a paid advertisement showcasing ministers alongside the product does not rebut this charge—it reinforces it. The government has effectively supplied its critics with visual proof of the very interference it is accused of.

This is where judgment was expected, particularly from the Industries Minister, who exercises administrative control over the PSU. A basic question should have been asked: does ministerial visibility help the factory, or does it help ministers? The answer is obvious.

There is a distinction the public still recognises. Paid publicity for welfare schemes — however debatable — can be tolerated because it communicates entitlements. A luxury soap brand does neither. No citizen’s life improves because a minister smiles from a newspaper page beside a bar of soap.

Public money is not for personal branding. Such excess hands critics ammunition and weakens administrative credibility.