Amul clears air on Mascot’s origins after viral claim; says ‘not inspired by Shobha Tharoor’

A social media video has sparked curiosity regarding the inspiration behind the Amul Girl, a prominent advertising mascot in India. Marketing consultant Dr. Sanjay Arora shared the video on Instagram, alleging that Sylvester daCunha, Amul’s advertising head, modeled the 1966 character after a childhood photograph of Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan, sister of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. The video has garnered over 1.8 million views and caught the attention of Shobha herself.

In a response on X, Shobha clarified that while she was featured in an Amul ad as a baby, and her sister Smita appeared in the brand’s first color advertisements, she could not definitively state whether she was the inspiration for the Amul Girl. “I was indeed an Amul baby… but whether I was the inspiration for the Amul Girl, I cannot say,” she wrote.

Amul has since issued a statement to refute the claim: “We wish to clarify that the Amul Girl illustration is not influenced by Shobha Tharoor. She was created by Sylvester daCunha and illustrator Eustace Fernandes.” The character, developed in 1966 to counter a more demure competitor, emerged from over 700 children’s photographs and has become a staple in advertising, supporting the long-running slogan “utterly butterly delicious.” The association of the Tharoor sisters with Amul adds to the brand’s colorful history, but the Amul Girl remains a unique creation.