Ad watchdog upholdscomplaints against 82campaigns

[Thakur]

Advertising sector watchdog ASCI has upheld
complaints against 82 "misleading" print and
TV ad campaigns in April, including those by
Hindustan Unilever, Marico, Tata Sky, ICICI
Bank and HDFC Bank.
According to the Customer Complaints Council
(CCC) of Advertising Standard Council of India
(ASCI), campaigns in health and personal care
category continued to lead with 44 violations.
The regulator received 46 complaints against
health and personal care category and 44 of
them were upheld.
The ASCI has upheld compliant against HUL ad
of deodorant Axe Extra Strong.
"The 'NSFW Make Them Strip' video shows
women turning into nymphomaniacs after
smelling the deodorant. The TVC shows
indecent depiction of women which is likely in
the light of generally prevailing standards of
decency to cause grave or widespread
offence," the regulator said.
It also found an ad of Tata Sky violating the
guidelines. The DTH operator in an ad shows a
male actor dressed in a blue T-shirt making
fun of beggars who have leprosy and are
visually challenged, the advertising regulator
said.
"The ad derides people who have leprosy and
people who are visually challenged and show
them in poor light. They need not make fun of
anyone and should focus on creating promos
which are truly humorous, funny but not at
the cost of playing with the sentiments of
people," it said.
Similarly, it took action against ICICI Bank,
which has claimed 24-hour customer care
services in an advertisement.
"However when you ring the number they say
they only open from 8 AM to 8PM. The CCC
concluded that the claim, ICICI Bank
Corporate Banking services offers 24 hour
customer care services is misleading," the ASCI
said.
It also upheld claims against HDFC Bank, which
had claimed "Pre Approved Personal loan -
Disbursal in 48 Hours". However, CCC found
that it was misleading as pre-approved means
that the necessary checks have been done
prior to sending the e-mailer.
"If there is no pre approval and each loan
application is treated on its merits then using
the header pre-approved personal loan
appears to be misleading the recipient," it said.
It also upheld complaints against Life
Insurance Corporation over showing
unreadable content on screen during the
advertisement.
Complaints against Godrej & Boyce were also
upheld. The complanit alleged that the ad of
Godrej Locks commoditised women, indicating
that with age they become useless and that a
man must upgrade to a newer model.