Kellogg India has denounced ASCI’s (Advertising Standard Council of India) decision to uphold a complaint against Kellogg K ad campaign in the month of August 2017. The brand said that the announcement made by ASCI stands incorrect and not up to date.
Kellogg India’s spokesperson said, “Kellogg India is a responsible corporate citizen and we ensure that all our consumer communication, including product labels, TVCs and celebrity product endorsements are compliant with the applicable laws of India. We believe that our TVC for Kellogg’s Special K Protein and Fibre is in compliance with all applicable regulations and guidelines. In fact, we have addressed all the issues raised by ASCI and have also submitted sufficient supporting evidence to prove that the celebrity is in agreement with the claims made in the advertisement.”
The Kellogg K campaign claimed that is “high in protein and fibre”, which the advertising watchdog considered false and was not applicable for the serving size of the product and, in the context of a product positioned for weight management, was misleading by ambiguity.
Stating the reason for upholding the ad, ASCI said, “Also the claim, ‘Foods high in protein and fibre make you feel full and keep hunger pangs away’ – Since this claim is linked to the claim of the product being high in protein and fibre, it is also misleading due to the reasons mentioned above. Furthermore, the claim was also inadequately substantiated for the specific product being advertised. The claim, ‘To manage weight, eat breakfast like Kellogg’s Special K’, was considered to be misleading by ambiguity and implication. The visual of the celebrity when seen in conjunction with the claims is likely to mislead consumers regarding the product efficacy as the advertiser was not able to submit any evidence that the celebrity is in agreement with the claims being made in the advertisement in general, and where she claims this to be her experience in particular.”
The Kellogg India team has challenged the ASCI order and filed a review application, which is still pending.
The Kellogg India spokesperson said, “We have always been honest to our consumers – their trust in us is testimony. We will continue to take all steps to ensure our consumer communications continue to be compliant with all applicable regulation guidelines.”
According to ASCI, the ad contravenes the guidelines for celebrities in advertising. Also, the disclaimers in the advertisement were not legible. The height of the picture area was 386 lines for SD and 1090 for HD. The lowercase elements were measured to be of height of about 7-8 pixels or less for SD and 18-19 pixels for HD formats.