ASCI pulls up 99 ads for misleading, unsubstantiated claims

In February this year, The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) recently upheld complaints against 99 out of 136 advertisements for being misleading, including those of FMCG giants such as Procter & Gamble, ITC, Marico and Dabur.

[caption id=“attachment_83765” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Ads were pulled up for being misleading, having unsubstantiated claims[/caption]

According to the Customer Complaints Council (CCC) of the ASCI, health and personal care category continued to lead with 80 violations in this regard.

The complaint against Procter & Gamble’s Vicks Vaporub ad for the claim of a consumer saving Rs. 50 with the purchase of a Vicks Vaporub pack, was upheld as well.

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“In a very small font size, a disclaimer is given stating that buying 50g Vaporub vs. buying 5g Vaporub, based on MRP. The ad appears to be misleading,” ASCI said in its order.

Similarly, the complaint against Dabur’s Fem Fairness Natural Bleach was upheld since it claims “Everyone’s desire for fairness will be fulfilled” and “The saffron in it gives a glowing skin for long time.”

Complaints against advertisements of ITC Ltd’s Kwiknic Chewing Gum and Marico Ltd’s Saffola Total were upheld for unsubstantiated claims.

ASCI also upheld 5 complaints in the education sector, again, for containing unsubstantiated claims.

As per ASCI, claims by educational institutes including Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Triumphant Institute of Management Education and Sachdeva College were not substantiated, thereby violating guidelines for advertising of educational institutions.

PTI