Advertising body to soon issue rules on celebrity endorsements

Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the sector’s non-statutory apex regulator, will be shortly issuing a final set of guidelines on celebrity endorsements.

The move comes three months after draft guidelines were first issued by ASCI on the subject as the government increasingly focuses attention on this. The consumer affairs ministry is piloting a Consumer Protection Bill in the ongoing session of Parliament, with big penalties on celebrities endorsing misleading ads.

The key change expected in the guidelines to be issued by ASCI will be a widening of the definition of celebrities to include famous people from all walks of life who endorse products and services. The draft guidelines covered only those from sports and entertainment, causing much heartburn among celebrity managers handling such clients who found it discriminatory.

A bigger base, say persons in the know, is also expected to help ASCI monitor a cross-section of ads using celebrities, which as a trend has grown significantly in recent years. Almost every brand, big and small, say sources, use celebrities, a tested format to build brand recall and salience in a cluttered market.

ASCI will be placing the onus on celebrities to do proper due-diligence in endorsing products and services, saying all claims and comparisons in an ad should be objectively ascertained and not mislead consumers. “Testimonials, endorsements or representations of opinions or preference of celebrities must reflect genuine, reasonably current opinion of the individual making such representations, and be based upon adequate information about or experience with the product or service being advertised,” go the draft guidelines. Celebrities should also have adequate knowledge of the body’s advertising code, to avoid violations.

Advertisers and ad agencies would also be covered in the final set of guidelines, with the regulator saying it is their responsibility to ensure the celebrities they wish to hire are apprised of the code and the penalties they will attract in case of violations.

Last year, there was a stir when a parliamentary panel suggested that celebrities be held accountable for the brands they endorse, with a fine of up to Rs 50 lakh and a jail term of up to five years for breaches. This was subsequently reduced to a fine, now part of the Consumer Protection Bill before Parliament.