ASCI releases report – two ads withdrawn

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has released its report for the period January-March 2009 on ads that were either withdrawn or modified. A total of 38 ads had been brought under the scanner, of which two ads have been withdrawn, while eight have been modified.

Sixteen ads were upheld by the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC), while three ads still await assurance from the advertisers/ad agencies ensuring that the claims would not to be repeated, and 18 ads were not upheld by the CCC.

Among the ads that have been withdrawn is a TVC of MakeMyTrip India Pvt Ltd. The TVC in question was alleged to be the very same ad film shot for 'Express Money'. Another TVC that was withdrawn was that of Coca-Cola. McCann Erickson is the agency that worked on the TVC.

According to ASCI, the visual showing use of sparklers in a dangerous manner, especially by a minor, manifested a disregard for safety and was likely to encourage negligence.

The two ads that have been discontinued are that of VRS Foods Ltd (Paras Malamaal offer) and the Citibank brochure ad. In the VRS Foods ad, the claim is read in conjunction with the visual showing '4 packs of Ghee', which was held to be misleading by ambiguity. As for the Citibank brochure ads, the value added services offered for senior citizens account were found to be false.

Thus, the advertisers informed ASCI that the services mentioned in the old brochure were discontinued and that the new brochure did not include any such false claims.