Orientalist, elitist and politically incorrect: Why Air India mascot Maharaja is retiring

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Air India's Maharaja is perhaps the most popular and long-lived advertising icons of India. He carried on with his characteristic elan even when the airline struggled under mounting debt and numerous inefficiencies. Now it's time for him to step down. As the Tata Group embarks on a long-awaited revamp of the airline, the Maharaja will recede to the background, ET has reported. The airline is likely to continue using the Maharajah image for its airport lounges and premium classes but he will retire as the mascot. That the Maharaja's time was up was apparent when Tata Sons roped in London-based brand and design consultancy firm Futurebrands last year to redraw Air India’s branding strategy. Among multiple strategies being considered was creating a new mascot for the airline since the Maharaja appeared outdated. Air India had already stopped using the Maharaja logo in its campaigns of new destination launches.How the Maharaja was born The Maharaja was born in 1946, when Bobby Kooka, Air India's Commercial Director, and Umesh Rao, an artist with advertising agency J.Walter Thompson, together created the brand icon. The Maharaja began merely as a rich Indian potentate, symbolizing graciousness and high living. And somewhere along the line his creators gave him a distinctive personality — his outsized moustache, the striped turban and his aquiline nose, the Air India website had explained. “He can be a lover boy in Paris, a sumo wrestler in Tokyo, a pavement artist, a Red Indian, a monk… he can effortlessly flirt with the beauties of the world. And most importantly, he can get away with it all. Simply because he is the Maharaja,” Kooka had said.

Is an heir India even required?

Michael Mascarenhas, the