New Delhi: The pandemic has helped some advertisers put out some misleading claims about certain products in the market, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), ad industry regulator, has said. Talking about the surge in misleading ads, Manisha Kapoor, General Secretary at ASCI, told The Sunday Guardian, “Due to the pandemic, which is an extraordinary situation, there are advertisers who have put up some ads in the public domain whose claims could not be proved or substantiated when an inquiry was conducted.”
Kapoor told The Sunday Guardian, “We examine every advertisement on its own merit. We have received several complaints from the consumers about the misleading ads. In certain categories, we have found that the companies are able to substantiate their claims through scientific and laboratory experiments. But if there is a violation, we have taken actions against such ads.”
She further said, “We have witnessed a surge in such misleading ads in the last year.”
Asked about the reason for rise in misleading ads, she said that the pandemic has paved the way for these companies to create a wrong impression among consumers. Kapoor told The Sunday Guardian, “We are in an extraordinary situation. Consumers want their family to be safe and healthy and they fear for their family members’ health. Using this fear, some companies do create some wrong impression in the minds of the consumers. In the past one year, we have taken several actions against misleading ads.”
According to data shared by the ASCI on the number of complaints registered, the regulator has received 335 complaints, of which 321 were found to be in violation. Out of the 321 violators, as many as 222 have complied, either withdrawing the ad or modifying it. Moreover, 89 of these have reported to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. The ASCI is investigating 15 cases.
The ASCI had issued an advisory in October 2020 to advertisers so that they can adhere better to the ASCI code on misleading ads.
Talking about the changes required to stop such misleading ads, Kapoor told The Sunday Guardian, “There are two things. One, we need more responsible advertisers, where the advertisers themselves feel that they have a certain responsibility towards society. Two, we need a group of alert public. A lot of cases have been taken up by the ASCI itself. So we need the public to come forward and register a complaint against the misleading ads.”