IAA urges Government to provide brands a safe environment to advertise

The India Chapter of the International Advertising Association has urged the concerned Government departments to take note of the intimidating behaviour of individuals with respect to advertising.

 

This follows a social media outrage which led to Tanishq pulling down a recent ad. A member of the brand's marketing team was also targeted on social media. 

 

The IAA wants businesses to have a safe environment to communicate their brand advertising messages and contribute to economic resurgence of the country.

 

A statement from the body suggested that there is a need to strengthen and safeguard the fundamental right to express and receive commercial expression as guaranteed in Section 19 (1) (A) of the Constitution of India. 

 

It adds, "Any attempt to stifle this should be condemned in the strongest of terms. The IAA has always stood for freedom of commercial speech and expression, self-regulation and gender-parity. The events which led to the recent Tanishq advertisement being pulled back are very unfortunate. While we respect the opinion of every individual on subjective matters, these should not descend to illegal threats and anti-social behaviour. We appeal to the concerned Governments to take a serious view of such intimidating behaviour and take exemplary action where required to ensure that businesses are provided a safe environment to communicate their brand advertising messages and contribute to economic resurgence of the country."

 

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