Dear Customers, I am sorry and guilty as a member of the industry that has collectively, with the government, failed you, the consumer. I say this after Patanjali’s Baba Ramdev got away lightly with just a minor rap on the knuckles… an apology. I can bet that the debate about Babaji’s Patanjali and its misinformation campaign will not die down quickly enough.
Apology of an Apology
Okay, so the size of the apology was increased. But it appeared once in the larger size and once in the smaller size. It is minuscule compared to the total space and time consumed by Patanjali with its misinformation campaign. Hence, expecting the audience to have the same opportunity to see the apology as they had when they saw the campaign is futile. This means that most will remain unaware of the apology and continue to be under the influence of all-powerful misinformation and miscommunication. In a true sense, if we want a real example and deterrent, the apology must appear in the same media (Press-TV-Digital) in the same size and with the same frequency as the misleading campaign. Now, that may be too much to ask, but should that not be justified for a habitual offender brand? And till it happens, the brand should be debarred from communicating in the media. That would have been justice.
I wonder if they ran a 15-second apology on TV and digital with the same channel and platforms. Logically, they should have.
The Products are not Bad, the Misleading Information is
Before you take it otherwise, let me tell you I firmly believe in remedies and the products that Patanjali propagates. However, it is all about the hugely exaggerated, unscientific, unsubstantiated claims the brand has been pushing with heavy media exposure riding on Baba Ramesh Yoga and Ayurvedic Acharya image.
This is no time for Celebration
It is not the time to celebrate the victory. This is just a demonstration of the industry and the government’s failure to curb such brand menace.
No time to rejoice for the apology that the brand was forced to publish.
This is like any other time- a good time for introspection.
An industry that expects a celebrity endorser to do a due diligent check on the brand must take the blame when it feels at the creative and media level to question misleading claims. And that is not just about Patanjali, it is about the non-healthy health drinks- the Fair that now Glows and many other such brands.
It is time to once again call upon every stakeholder and see what genuine efforts are needed so that no other brand dares to create and release misleading communication.
Two Questions
One way in which the brand should be penalised for the long-term damage it could have created on the highly influenceable minds of the masses. The courts and the ministry must work together to ensure that even if it is a witch hunt, Baba Ramdev and the brand are made an example of it. Is taking brands off the shelf good enough? Should the brand be asked to mirror the product’s misleading campaign media plan for the apology media plan? Or should we ask the brand to provide 5% of the revenue as a deterrent?
What about the Future?
I have often said this – No One Is Worried Of ASCI and the fragmented industry. Recently, ASCI has been trying to act bravely and get some teeth by working with the consumer affairs and information ministry. However, it remains a source of a sparkling array of meticulously crafted guidelines- which remain what they are: guidelines. It does not have the power to sanction a brand. And without that, brands are willing to risk litigation delays and what escape routes they can exploit.
It is Not a New Issue
I had seen the brand’s damaging approach and attitude many years back. I raised the issue- the year- Baba Ramdev was fighting and defending the brand in court battles with other brands. That year, Babaji was a Guest of Honour speaker at Goafest- the advertising and marketing industry’s flagship festival. I protested that the Baba, who has refused to follow ASCI guidelines, must not be invited as a speaker at an Ad Club and IAA event. I asked the industry associations to stand together against a habitual offender of ASCI guidelines, which every brand should consider sacrosanct.
But my voice of dissent failed to find enough takers.
Babaji entered and exited to a standing ovation from the industry.
Can’t Blame Media
Many may even want to question the role of media. They knew what they were publishing. Advertising whose promises and claims were questionable. Were they not supposed to be the guardians of audience rights? Well, one should not expect them to start scanning every campaign and sit in the seat of justice. However, the creative and the media planners must answer – what they were doing. Everyone wanted the cream till the party lasted.
ASCI and Polite Self-Governance/Self-Regulation is Not Working!
We are the noisy, naughty students in preparatory school who need the teacher in the classroom to enforce discipline. Our attempt at nudging the misguided brands to follow the guidelines has failed. Most brands smoothly side-step and repeatedly flout guidelines- knowing nothing will happen and nothing happens.! ASCI asks for an explanation. The brands take time to provide. Then, if the communication is found fault, the brands silently say sorry, and the business goes on; otherwise, everyone would have learnt their lessons by now. Sometimes, like Patanjali did, the brand takes ASCI to court.
We need something more. It is not working- it is so broken- we must do something about it. How long can the audience be asked to sacrifice their interest in the absence of some real action?
The brands that flout the rules are big brands. They understand the legality and how to escape it. They do it knowingly. There is an intent behind every action of the highly paid planners and creative and strategic people. They do it because industry self-governance is toothless and needs to be fixed.
We failed the Industry & the Audience
The creative agency, if any, willingly follows the brand directive. It dare not ask for substantiation. It will never refuse the work- because many others are in the line to do it.
ASCI must get teeth or…
ASCI must graduate from an industry body of guidelines to something that still constitutes the same way but can enforce discipline. It should be powerful to dictate the terms, and the media and creative industry must accept the ruling.
It may lead to many court cases. The cases will further clarify what is allowed and what is not. Maybe the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting should foot the bill for these cases.
Net-net
ASCI must be given Teeth as the first port of call, or a decision/penalty/guidelines enforcer or some other framework must be created to address it.
Trust me, Exaggerated, False, and Misleading Claims will continue to be created and released, putting the public at large at risk because we lack a system to quickly address and nip them in the bud. Patanjali has been doing so for more than a decade- and hopefully, we in the industry know that by allowing a brand this free run, we have not lived up to our duty and responsibility.
We, as an industry, have collectively failed the audience.
Let the recent happenings on the FMCG Health front, and Baba Ramdev/Patanjali be a call to wake up. If we do not self–govern, the law will govern, which may be a sad phase.
Maybe every marketer, communicator, brand custodian should take a print of the Patanjali apology, frame it, and hang it in their room. Just to remind them not to participate in any process of creating or releasing misleading communication.
Sanjeev Kotnala is a senior business strategy consultant and educator. He writes on MxMIndia every Wednesday. His views here are personal.
