ASCI’s CCC upholds complaints against 87 ads in December 2013

ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) has announced that it upheld complaints against 87 ads in December 2014, of which 65 were from the health and personal care category.

In the entire year, the CCC decided on 1,842 complaints out of which 1,477 were upheld. Out of these misleading advertisements, approximately 40 per cent were from the education sector and 36 per cent from health and personal care.

Health and personal care

The CCC found the following claims in health and personal care product or service ads of 65 advertisers, released in the press to be either misleading or false or not adequately/scientifically substantiated and hence violating ASCI’s Code. Some of the health care products or services ads also contravened provisions of the Drug & Magic Remedies Act. Complaints against the following ads were upheld.

Consumer durables

The ad for Bajaj CFL Bulbs was deemed to denigrate women based on the colour of the skin of the girl. The complaint was upheld.

Food and beverages

The CCC concluded that the claims mentioned in these eight advertisements were not substantiated.  The advertisements contravened ASCI’s Code.  The complaints were upheld.

Education

While the website for Anurag Aggarwal Institute of Public Speaking contravened Chapter I.1 of the Code, complaints against ads of all the other educational institutes were upheld because of unsubstantiated claims that they ‘provide 100% placement/and/or they claim to be the no.1 in their respective fields’.

Others