ASCI upholds complaints against 125 out of 167 ads in Feb 2015

Out of these 125 advertisements, 73 belonged to the Personal and Healthcare category, followed by the Education category with 29 advertisements, and others

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | April 28, 2015

In February 2015, the Advertising Standards Council of India's (ASCI) Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 125 out of 167 advertisements. Out of these 125 advertisements, 73 belonged to the Personal and Healthcare category, followed by the Education category with 29 advertisements, and others.

Personal and Healthcare

The CCC found claims of 73 health and personal care product or service advertisements of 71 advertisers to be either misleading or false or not adequately/ scientifically substantiated and hence, violating ASCI's Code. Some of the health care products or services advertisements also contravened provisions of the Drug & Magic Remedies Act and Chapter 1.1 and III.4 of the ASCI Code.

Education

The CCC found claims in the advertisements by 29 different advertisers that were not substantiated and thus, violated ASCI Guidelines for Advertising of Educational Institutions. Hence, complaints against these advertisements were upheld. This includes the advertisement claims made by Bennett Coleman & Co: “Begin your banking career at an annual salary of up to Rs 3.5 lakh” and “so far, TimesPro students have been placed at India's leading banks like Ing Vysya Bank, Indusind Bank, Kotak Bank, Yes Bank and many more”.

E-commerce & Teleshopping

The claims made in the advertisements of Trendsutra Platform Services (Pepperfry.com) and TV Shoppee (Win Diabonil), among others, were found misleading and hence, the complaints were upheld.

Others

Complaints against the following ads were upheld:

Idea Cellular: The TVC to promote the Idea Internet Network service shows the practice in Haryana of girls not being allowed to step out of homes to study, which was considered as defaming Haryana and tended to bring this state into disrepute.  Also, the TVC was found misleading by implication as the product/ service promoted was shown as a substitute to and equating to college education.

Relaxo Footwears (Sparx): The advertisement with a visual of actor Akshay Kumar running adjacent to a railway track with a steam engine approaching alongside showed a dangerous practice without justifiable reason.

Heinz India (Glucon D - Volt): The visual of the ad showed kids flipping the Glucon-D Volt tablet into the air and catching in the mouth directly, which was seen as a dangerous act and likely to encourage minors to emulate such act in a manner which could cause harm or injury.

Kalyan Jewelers: The TVC states: “Yeh aap ke ghar ki shaadi thodi hi hai” and “Jitna dekar woh ladka khush hoga, theek hai”, implying jewellery being given to please the bridegroom and his family. Thus advertisement was seen as likely to encourage dowry system, which is in violation of Cable TV Act's Advertising Code – 7.1(viii) (“exploits social evils like dowry, child marriage”).

Moet Hennessy India (Glenmorangie): The advertisement carries visuals where alcohol distillation apparatus is shown. The advertiser did not provide the annual market sales data of the product/ service advertised. Thus, the advertisement was a surrogate advertisement for the promotion of a liquor product – Glenmorangie Whisky.

Tata Teleservices (Tata Photon Max Wi-fi Data card): The advertisement claims to offers Internet speed of up to 9.8 Mbps. In the absence of a disclaimer qualifying the conditions under which the claim is tenable, the claim was considered to be misleading.

Pernod Ricard India (Blender's Pride): The advertiser did not provide the annual market sales data of the product/ service advertised. Thus, the advertisement was a surrogate advertisement for a promotion of a liquor product – Blender's Pride.

Bharti Axa Life Insurance Company: The advertisement's claim of “Cost just Rs 12 per day”, is only applicable for individuals aged less than 35 years. Thus the claim was misleading by ambiguity. Also, the supers in the Hindi TVC were not in the same language as the audio of the TVC, and were not clearly legible.

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (Horlicks): The TVC suggests that consumption of Horlicks can be initiated at the time of exams for better concentration. It was found misleading by ambiguity as the product has to be consumed for a considerable period of time to be effective.

Dabur India (Dabur Chyawanprash): The advertisement claims that Dabur Chyawanprash gives three times more immunity, which makes kids strong from within and increases immunity that is the ability to fight illness by three times. The claims were unsubstantiated.

Kellogg's Special K: The advertisement's claim: “a two-week challenge and eating two bowls every day: one for breakfast, one for lunch/ dinner for only two weeks”, was found misleading by omission of the specific conditions of the diet plan. Also, the duration of the disclaimers/ supers in the TVC were not for minimum 12 seconds on the screen, were not clearly legible, and were not in the same language as the voiceover of the TVC.

Tata Chemicals (Tata Swach Silver RO Purifier): The advertisement's claims that the germ destroyer silver action increased the life of the purifier were found unsubstantiated.

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