Surrogate Advertisement

Why in the News?

Recently, the government has issued a new set of guidelines to prohibit surrogate advertising and make it compulsory for celebrities to disclose any stake in the companies and brands they endorse.The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) under the Department of Consumer Affairs has notified the new Guidelines.

Key Points: 

What are the new guidelines?

About: 

The Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022, have been released to “protect the consumers” and “to ensure that consumers are not being fooled with unsubstantiated claims, exaggerated promises, misinformation and false claims”

• Key Provision: Advertisements for children: They aim to address the issue of misleading ads and endorsements aired during programming meant for children
• It seeks to disqualify ads that promote practices which can have an impact on children’s mental or physical health – commercials implying that children are “likely to be ridiculed or become less popular” if they do not purchase the products
• Prohibit surrogate advertisements: It prohibits surrogate advertisements and has brought transparency in disclaimers in ads
• Bait advertisements: It also provides clarity on ‘bait’ advertisements, and ‘free claims’ advertisements
• A bait advertisement is an advertisement in which goods, products or services are offered for sale at a low price to attract consumers
• Free claims advertisements: A free claims advertisement shall not describe any goods, products, or service to be ‘free’, ‘without charge’, or use such other terms if the consumer has to pay anything
• The new guidelines clearly define what ‘misleading advertisement’ means and provide various criteria for an advertisement to be considered valid and non-misleading
• The rules do not spell out what counts as a misleading ad. However, they define non-misleading ads as those with “truthful and honest representation”
• Applicability: The guidelines will be applicable to advertisements published on all platforms like print, television and online
• It will also apply to government advertisements as well
• Penalty:  Action against violation of the new guidelines will be taken as per the provisions of the Central Consumer Protection Act (CCPA)
• Rs 10 lakh penalty for the first violation and a Rs 50 lakh penalty for subsequent violations

Significance: 

• It gives a framework for the industry stakeholders to prevent misleading ads even by mistake
• It will also empower consumers and consumer organisations to file complaints against misleading ads
• It aims to protect consumers’ interests by ensuring clarity in published advertisements, so that, consumers could make informed decisions based on facts rather than wrong narratives and exaggerations

What is surrogate advertising?

• Surrogate advertising is the strategy of advertising a product that cannot be advertised openly
• Advertisers instead create ads that help in building a brand and often involve popular celebrities – all without naming the actual product that is being indirectly advertised
• For example, In India, tobacco products and alcohol cannot be advertised openly under laws like the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, which bans all kinds of direct and indirect advertisements of tobacco products
• To circumvent them, surrogate advertising is done
• Now Clause 6 of the CCPA notification prohibits both direct and indirect surrogate advertising

What about ads for children?

According to Clause 8 of the new guidelines, an advertisement for junk foods, including chips, carbonated beverages and such other snacks and drinks shall not be advertised during a programme meant for children or on a channel meant exclusively for children.