Rajinikanth Cola Advert

While Rajinikanth seems generally to have, as the myth goes, eschewed all commercial product endorsement. the above Palm Cola advertisement is a notable exception. It was made for the Tamil Nadu Co-operative, some say (see comments accompanying the above Youtube video) to support the Palm climbers. The advert seems to have been made during the shooting of Thillu Mullu in 1981. The ad features Thalaiva, Mahdevi and even director Balachandar. The sheer magnetism of the young Rajinikanth gives us a sense of the brute force he might have wielded in the endorsement of products, had he deigned to deploy his brand to this end. The fact that he has not done so is clearly a testament to his integrity with regard to his fan base, his ambition to partake in public life, or both.