NEW DELHI: Harbhajan Singh and MS Dhoni, close friends and till recently 'bleeding blue' together, find themselves at crossroads in a legal tangle.

The off-spinner and his lawyers, Dewani Advocates & Consultants, have served a legal notice on Vijay Mallya's UB Spirits over a commercial for McDowell's No. 1 Platinum featuring Dhoni.

The McDowell's No. 1 Platinum commercial shows Dhoni ridiculing Harbhajan's role in a commercial for rival Pernod Ricard's Royal Stag. McDowell's No. 1 Platinum and Royal Stag are competing whiskey brands, coming in the same price band.

Since liquor brands are not allowed to advertise in India, the surrogate commercials are for McDowell's No. 1 Platinum soda and Royal Stag cricket gear, respectively. Harbhajan's lawyers have sent the legal notice to top UB Group officials including its owner Vijay Mallya on Saturday (July 16), stating that the McDowell's No. 1 Platinum commercial makes a mockery of Harbhajan, his family and the Sikh community.

The legal notice, a copy of which is with ET, seeks an "unconditional public apology to Bhajji's family in all widely read newspapers as well as television channels prominently" and withdrawal of the commercial within three days of receiving it.

"My client is serving you with the instant notice to give you an opportunity to accept your mistake and make amends. Failing this, we will have no other alternative than to take appropriate legal action including that of filing proceedings for defamation, damages and all such civil as well as criminal actions," the notice says, signed by lawyer Shyam Dewani.

The notice, sent by Harbhajan's mother Avtar Kaur, alleges that such commercials bring "disunity and friction" in the Indian team, which tops the world ranking, and can be termed anti-national. An email sent to UB Group's PR firm remained unanswered till the time of going to print.

Apart from Vijay Mallya, the notice has been sent to UB executive vice chairman SR Gupte, president & CFO Ravi Nedungadi, deputy president Harish Bhat and executive vp (Corporate Affairs) Nandini Verma. It seeks a compensation of Rs 1,00,000 to the cricketer's family towards the cost of the notice.

Sangeet Shirodkar, Harbhajan's close friend and business manager, and Off-Spin Sports & Entertainment director, says the family and the Sikh community are hurt by the advertisement. "It shocked us that a company involved deeply in sporting activities has done this.

I am certain law will take its right course." Industry experts say the McDowell's No. 1 commercial is in bad taste and may not do anything to boost its brand.

"Spoofs are a bad idea in any case. They remind the consumer of your competitor, the consumer doesn't give a damn about this sparring, and suggests that you don't have anything worthwhile to say about your brand," says veteran adman Anand Halve , co-founder of brand consultancy Chlorophyll.

In fact, the controversy will keep Harbhajan in the news and perhaps even notch up his endorsement value by a couple of lakhs, Halve says. Taking a dig at Royal Stag's tagline 'Make it large', the McDowell's No. 1 Platinum commercial shows a Bhajji look-alike at his father's factory, asking if he had "made it large", only to get slapped by his father.

Bobby Pawar, chief creative officer of Mudra Group , the agency that handles McDowell, last month told ET that a tit-for-tat reaction from Pernod Ricard was welcome. Well, he sure didn't mean legal notice.

SOURCE