ASCI upholds complaints against 110 misleading ads

Advertising industry watchdog ASCI upheld complaints against 110 campaigns in June for misleading ads, including those of Amazon, Hindutan Uniliver, Delhi Metro, Marico, Wipro, L'Oreal and Thomas Cook India.
According to the Customer Complaints Council (CCC) of ASCI (Advertising Standard Council of India), it received 127 complaints during the month and maximum 55 complaints of misleading ads were upheld from personal and healthcare category.
The CCC concluded that etailing firm Amazon has mislead and contravened advertising guidelines in a TV commercial, where it had claimed to guarantee one day delivery.
"The CCC concluded that in the absence of a super/ disclaimer, the TVC is misleading by omission. The advertisement contravened the ASCI Code. The complaint was upheld," said ASCI.

A complaint against Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was also upheld, where it in an advertisement had claimed that its 95 per cent customers show courtesy to their fellow passengers, 95 per cent customers allow passengers to deboard first before entering into the train, 95 per cent of our customers offer seats to senior citizens, women and other needy ones, more than 25,000 commuters purchase Smart Cards on a daily basis.
ASCI also upheld a complaint against L'Oreal India, where it had claimed that its Garnier Colour Naturals has olive oil cream based formula which nourishes hair for 8 weeks.

Similarly, complaint against Kolkata-based FMCG major Emami terming it as "misleading by omission" after it could not substantiate its claim that Damage Control Hair Oil is world's first hair oil that provides damage control.

Marico, which had claimed that Saffola Gold Oil has a scientific solution for every heart and sets a benchmark not with other oils but with the best advancements in heart care was pulled up after CCC found that "comparative data were misleading by implication".
Wipro in the ad of Glucovita shows a small boy in his school uniform sitting on a park bench and teasing a dog who is tied to another bench. The dog unleashes itself from the bench and runs after the boy who flips a tablet of Glucovita into the air and catches it with his mouth and runs faster and leaves the dog far behind.

"This suggests a dangerous act... A boy flipping the Glucovita Bolts in the air and catching it in his mouth shows a dangerous act which is likely to encourage minors to emulate such act in a manner which could cause harm or injury," ASCI said.
Similarly, it also upheld complaints against Mahashian Di Hatti Ltd (MDH Masale), which had shown two males riding motorbikes without helmet.