ASCI launches AdWise to enhance advertising literacy among school children across India

New Delhi: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has rolled out AdWise, a national consumer education programme for school children launched in September, designed to improve advertising literacy among students from Grades 3 to 8 across multiple cities over 15 to 18 months.

Managed under the ASCI Academy, the programme is expected to cover around one million students in 2,000 schools via classroom sessions by the end of 2026.

The initiative has already reached more than 1,14,000 students across seven states and 240 schools. It is structured to provide children with critical thinking skills needed to identify, question, and evaluate advertising messages in an increasingly digital environment.

ASCI Academy monitors improvements in advertising literacy by measuring the increase in the percentage of students recognising and understanding advertisements, differentiating them from other content, and assessing engagement through feedback from students, teachers, and parents. Assessments conducted before and after the sessions show a 59%-86% increase in correct responses among Grades 3-5 and a 57%-95% increase among Grades 6-8.

With the tagline ‘Smart Kids. Smart Choices’, AdWise addresses gaps in digital literacy education. While children today are digital natives, many lack the awareness to critically engage with the subtle and immersive advertising present online and offline. The programme seeks to reduce this vulnerability.

ASCI is also conducting an ethnographic study examining how children aged 7 to 15 (Gen Alpha) engage with media and advertising, including how they identify, classify, and interpret commercial messages.

Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary General of ASCI, said, “Children today are exposed to advertising in ways that are fundamentally different from previous generations. They don’t possess critical cognitive abilities to navigate advertising but they are increasingly being exposed online and in the real world to marketing messages in various forms. With children being an important focus of ASCI, we are equipping them, parents and teachers to critically analyse and understand advertising’s influence. Enabling children this way fosters responsible media consumption and creates an informed audience.”

Following a successful pilot phase, AdWise is currently being rolled out across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Indore, Bhopal, Patna, Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Kolkata, with the NGO School Health Annual Report Programme (SHARP) serving as ASCI’s execution partner. Phase 2 will expand the programme to Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Punjab, Assam, and Karnataka while further deepening penetration in existing markets.
The one-hour interactive workshops are designed for two age groups: Grades 3-5 and Grades 6-8, with tailored content developed by ASCI Academy.

For Grades 3-5, sessions focus on decoding marketing messages, understanding advertising intent, identifying where and how ads appear, distinguishing ads from content, and thinking critically about choice and influence. For Grades 6-8, workshops cover persuasive techniques, influencer advertising, online safety, and case studies of advertising strategies.

The programme uses a range of classroom materials and gamified content, including facilitator-led presentations, handbooks, and videos. Parents are provided with tips and checklists to support awareness at home. Digital resources are available in English, Hindi, and Marathi, with Tamil and Kannada translations underway.