By A Correspondent
In January 2018, ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 171 advertisements out of the total of 247 advertisements that were evaluated by the CCC.
A total of 148 advertisements were picked up by ASCI’s suo moto surveillance and objections against 130 advertisements were upheld. Of the 99 advertisements complained against by the general public or by industry members, complaints against 41 advertisements were upheld by the CCC. Out of the total 171 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 118 belonged to healthcare sector, 16 to education sector, 10 to the food & beverages category, five to personal care and 22 were from the others category.
Gross exaggeration of product efficacy was the number one reason for upholding complaints, followed by violation of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act (DMR Act) and the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules (D&C Rules). The other reasons were failure to provide substantial facts and figures to support claims, and delivering advertisements which were misleading by ambiguity and / or by implication.
Among the various complaints, the CCC observed that a prominent FMCG drug company was providing inadequate and misleading information about its products. Similarly, a popular food brand was found to give incomplete and misleading comparison of its milkshake product. Furthermore, an advertiser claimed to cure various diseases like heart block, cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, eye sight, Alzheimer’s, kidney function, thyroid, with their product featuring an FSSAI logo, implying that the claims are approved by FSSAI. These claims, too, were found to be misleading by exaggeration.
“ASCI associates with Government bodies to ensure an effective self-regulation process. We have completed a year of our association with the Ministry of AYUSH. AYUSH is among top three sectors where we find a high incidence of misleading advertisements. The advertisements in the AYUSH sector claiming treatment of certain diseases in violation of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Regulations have been a cause of concern. With support from the Ministry of AYUSH, we hope to change this scenario so that advertising is legal and ethical,†said Shweta Purandare, ASCI Secretary General.
In Healthcare, total of 118 ads complained against:
:: Direct Complaints (17 ads complained against)
:: Suo Moto Surveillance by ASCI ( 101 ads complained against)
In Personal Care, total of five ads complained against:
:: Direct Complaints (three ads complained against)
:: Suo Moto Surveillance by ASCI (Two ads complained against)
In Food & Beverages, total of 10 ads complained against:
:: Direct Complaints (Nine ads complained against)
:: Suo Moto Surveillance by ASCI (one ad complained against)
In Education, total of 16 ads complained against:
:: Direct Complaints (One ad complained against)
:: Suo Moto Surveillance by ASCI (15 ads complained against)
Under others, total of 22 ads complained against:
:: Direct Complaints (11 ads complained against)
:: Suo Moto Surveillance by ASCI (11 ads complained against)