Date: 02/09/2022
Relevance: GS-4: Media Ethics
Key Phrases: Surrogate Advertisements, International Spirits & Wines Association of India (ISWAI), Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsement for Misleading Advertisements, 2022.
Why in News?
- The Government has recently warned the International Spirits & Wines Association of India (ISWAI) to deal with the violators of Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsement for Misleading Advertisements, 2022 which were issued by the CCPA.
What is the issue?
- The guidelines are not being strictly complied with by the concerned entities.
- Many alcoholic spirits and beverages are being advertised under the garb of music CDs, club soda, and packaged drinking water.
- Also, consumption of tobacco and gutkha is done under the name of fennel and cardamom.
- There have been instances of direct advertisement of alcoholic beverages on social media platforms as well.
- The prohibited goods are still being advertised through surrogate goods and services.
- Many instances of surrogate advertisements were noticed during the recent sports events that were televised globally.
What are the impacts of such misleading advertisements?
- Many companies are employing major celebrities for endorsement that further accentuates the negative impact on the vulnerable youth among others.
- Such advertisements violate various rights of consumers such as the right to be informed, the right to choose, and the right to be safeguarded against potentially unsafe products and services.
- Consumers are being fooled by unsubstantiated claims, exaggerated promises, misinformation, and false claims.
Do you know?
- Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA):
- The CCPA is a regulatory authority that has been established under section 10 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 for regulating matters relating to violation of the rights of the consumers, unfair trade practices, and false or misleading advertisements which are prejudicial to the interests of public and consumers and to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers as a class.
- It is under the Ministry of Consumer affairs.
Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsement for Misleading Advertisements, 2022:
- The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) under the Department of Consumer Affairs notified these guidelines with an objective to curb misleading advertisements and protect the consumers, who may be exploited or affected by such advertisements.
Salient Provisions of the Guidelines:
- Compliance: These guidelines are applicable to a manufacturer, service provider, or trader whose goods, product, or service is the subject of an advertisement. It is also applicable to an advertising agency or endorser whose service is availed for the advertisement of such goods, products or services regardless of the form, format, or medium of the advertisement.
- Ban on surrogate advertisements: These are indirect advertisements made for goods or services whose advertising is otherwise prohibited or restricted by law by circumventing such prohibition or restriction and portraying it to be an advertisement for other goods or services, the advertising of which is not prohibited or restricted by law.
- Free claims advertisements: A free claims advertisement shall not describe any goods, products, or service to be ‘free’, ‘without charge’, or use such other terms if the consumer has to pay anything.
- Bait Advertisements: The guidelines lay down conditions to be complied with while issuing bait advertisements. Bait advertisement means an advertisement in which goods, products, or service is offered for sale at a low price to attract consumers.
- Bars Deceptive Advertisements: The guidelines bar the omission of material information that makes advertisements deceptive and helps conceal their commercial intent.
- Regulation of advertisements targeting children: Guidelines forbid advertisements from exaggerating the features of products or services leading to unrealistic expectations of such products or services among children.
- Disclaimers in advertisements: Disclaimer shall not attempt to hide material information with respect to any claim made in such advertisement, the omission or absence of which is likely to make the advertisement deceptive or conceal its commercial intent and shall not attempt to correct a misleading claim made in an advertisement.
- Penalty for violation of Guidelines: CCPA can impose a penalty of upto 10 lakh rupees on manufacturers, advertisers, and endorsers for any misleading advertisements. For subsequent contraventions, CCPA may impose a penalty of upto 50 lakh rupees. The Authority can prohibit the endorser of a misleading advertisement from making any endorsement for upto 1 year and for subsequent contravention, prohibition can extend upto 3 years.
Do you know?
Media Ethics:
- Media is considered the fourth pillar of democracy and as such, it plays a great role in the overall development of the country.
- Ethics forms the basis of journalism as people form perceptions based on the things they see in media.
- The fundamental objective of media is to provide the people with news, opinions and information about things going on in an unbiased, accurate and fair manner.
- The Media has duties and obligations towards society and hence it has to follow certain basic rules of ethics to promote its trust in the people and to maintain its credibility.
Major ethical issues faced by the media today:
- Paid news: It is one of the biggest threats to journalism which broadly affects the perceptions and opinions of people.
- Media Trail: Media trial can be defined as a trial parallel to the court of law in which the media house declares a person innocent or guilty before the final judgment of the court based on debates and discussions.
- Sidelining of real issues: The media often portray non-issues as real issues, while the real issues are sidelined.
- Opaque private treaties: There has been a growing nexus of politicians and corporate entities in the news media. Indian media today is trapped by power centers, business tycoons, and Indian state authorities converting their role of watchdog to lapdog.
- Widening legal regulatory gap: There have been growing practices of advertisements being published as news for a fee. This has severely affected their credibility.
Conclusion:
- The guidelines provided by the CCPA need to be followed on a war footing as these discourage the promotion of illogical consumerism aimed at children as well as will help in curbing misleading, bait, surrogate and children-targeted advertisements.
- The guidelines are momentous in empowering customers against misleading advertisers.
- The guidelines mention the conditions for defining a “non-misleading and valid” advertisement instead of defining what constitutes a misleading or invalid advertisement. Thus, reducing the scope for exploitation of loopholes
Source: Indian Express
Mains Question:
Q. Explain the ill effects of Surrogate advertisements. What are the steps the government has taken to stop it? (250 words).
