The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has observed that former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s endorsement of a prominent brand of ‘Mastercard’ as a payment gateway was misleading.
Another advertisement in which a well known brand’s of refrigerator claim of keeping vegetables fresh for up to 30 days was also found misleading. ASCI also observed Paisabazaar’s claim loan approval in two minutes with the key operative word provisional missing in the voice over as misleading by ambiguity and implication. The ASCI has investigated 206 comlaints and found 114 are misleading including Kingfisher Radler, Indulekha shampoo, Dove shampoo, Mohini Knitwears, Nestle’s breakfast cereal NesPlus Multigrain Kokos’s.
In its order on the Mastercard where Dhoni was endorsing the brand, ASCI observed that while the advertiser took a stance that their Mastercard is a payment gateway, the visual in the TV Commercial shows a physical card. “It was observed that there was no evidence showing Dhoni had done due diligence prior to the endorsement. There was a violation of guidelines for celebrities in advertising”, it added.
ASCI also observed that the advertisement’s on Paisabazar claim, “2 minute mein loan approval” (“Loan Approval* in 2 minutes”) regardless of the disclaimer, “…..*Provisional Loan Approval in 2 minutes”, is misleading as the key operative word “provisional” is missing in the voice over itself. The claim, “Loan Approval in 2 Minutes “with the protagonist categorically stating “fatafat paisa aapke account mein”, implies that the money would be available in the person’s account as quick as in two minutes, whereas the actual fact is that the transfer of money could take up to 10 days. “Any normal Customer is bound to believe that the Loan will be approved in two minutes and amount will be credited almost immediately. The advertisement is misleading by ambiguity and implication,” the ASCI said.
ASCI also evaluated 157 advertisements, of which 59 belonged to the education sector, 35 belonged to the healthcare sector, five to personal care, two to the food and beverages sector and 13 were from the others category.
ASCI also found Nestle’s breakfast cereal NesPlus Multigrain Kokos’s advertisement misleading by omission and ambiguity as its claim that the product remains crispy in warm milk did not mention the period of upto four minutes.
ASCI also pulled up Hindustan Unilever’s Indulekha and Dove Shampoo advertisements and found them to be misleading. “Indulekha Bringha Hair Cleanser is not directly beneficial for hair growth like Indulekha Bringha oil. The advertisement called out benefits of Indulekha Oil and presented Indulekha Hair Cleanser as additional product. The hair cleanser product depicting mnemonic of hair root identical to that shown on the oil product pack and claiming ‘prevents hair fall’ was therefore considered to be misleading,” it said. It added that the disclaimer in fine print at the back of the package stating ‘hair fall due to breakage’, was in violation of ASCI guidelines for disclaimers.
The Dove intense repair shampoo and conditioner advertisement claim ‘new’ was not substantiated for the product formulation. “The advertiser did not submit any authentic and verifiable evidence comparing the composition of the old formulation of Dove intense repair and the re-launched version. Advertiser did not submit physical sample of the old products as well. It was concluded that the claim ‘new’ was not substantiated for the product formulation and was misleading by implication”, it said.
ASCI noted that online pharmacy PharmEasy’s advertisement claim, ‘100 per cent Genuine Medicines’ was not substantiated with any verifiable supporting data such as a list of registered FDA approved pharmacies who have tie-ups with the advertiser and how the advertiser ensures that all medicines supplied are 100 per cent genuine.
It also noted that the advertisement claim by Anandi Atta Chakki Pvt Ltd that only Atta Chakki Giving 100 per cent Result in Bajri” was not substantiated with any market survey data or with comparative data of the advertiser’s product and other Atta Chakki products, to prove their grinder’s performance and efficiency in giving 100 per cent result in Bajri and how it is unique to their Atta Chakki alone. The claim is misleading by exaggeration.
ASCI also found that the advertisement’s claim by IAS Hotspot that Kerala’s biggest residential hub for civil service preparation” was not substantiated with data to conclusively prove that the residential services provided by the advertiser’s institute are the biggest in Kerala as compared to other institutes offering similar facilities, or through an independent third-party validation.