Only 12 of 332 COVID-19 claims in ads in FY21 were true, says ad regulator ASCI

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Barely 12 of the 332 advertisements for a range of products claiming to provide benefits related to COVID-19 made valid claims, as brands exploited consumer vulnerabilities to peddle their goods during the pandemic, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) said.

The self-regulatory, voluntary organization of the advertising industry in India assessed advertisements of paints, apparel, detergents, skin care, ACs, fans, water purifiers, plywood and laminates, supplements and food- all promising COVID-19-related benefits.

It picked 332 COVID-19 related ads through consumer complaints as well as its own monitoring and found that brands were taking .

ASCI’s expert panel that comprises microbiologists examined COVID-19 related evidence provided by advertisers.

Given the rampant exploitation of vulnerable consumers in the pandemic situation, ASCI issued a COVID-19 advisory in October 2020, giving advertisers a clear directive to fully substantiate their COVID-19 related claims through recognized testing facilities.

“In a period where consumer vulnerabilities were at an all-time high, many brands took unfair advantage of this, and tried to peddle their wares without establishing any robust evidence of their actual utility against the SARS Cov-2 virus. Brands that offer proven benefits to consumers have a genuine role in the pandemic, but unfortunately most of the COVID-19 related advertising fell woefully short. Most advertisers were unable to prove that the products actually worked to help consumers in a real way as claimed in the ads,” said Manisha Kapoor, Secretary General, ASCI.

Besides COVID-19 complaints, the ASCI Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) also processed 1,406 complaints in the education sector, 285 complaints against food and beverage advertisements and 147 complaints related to personal care.

In addition, 364 advertisements were found to be, prima facie, in violation of The Drugs and Magic Remedies Act.

Overall, ASCI last year processed over 6,149 complaints and saw compliance at 97 percent.

Also, in the first quarter last year, following a directive from the Ministry of AYUSH asking for ASCI to identify advertisements that violated its advisory dated April 1, 2020, ASCI escalated 237 objectionable ads to the government.

While 164 ads complied and modified the untrue claims, 73 COVID-19 related ads needed further investigation and action by the Ministry due to non-compliance.

Last year, the ad regulator had tied up with TAM to monitor 3,000 digital platforms.

Since then, it has observed a rise in complaints related to online ads, both received from end consumers, as well as taken up suo motu.

Also, out of the 6,149 complaints, 35 percent were from digital.

The pandemic year also saw a massive jump in online gaming activities and concerned with the unabated rise of online real money gaming advertisements which did not explain risks to consumers in a transparent way.

For this, ASCI developed guidelines for the sector. ASCI processed 67 complaints related to online real money gaming from January-March 2021.