Mumbai: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has directed ET Now to withdraw its advertisement that claimed leadership in Budget news coverage. Reviewed by ASCI’s Fast Track Complaints Panel (FTCP), the ad was found to be misleading and in violation of ASCI’s code.
The emailer advertisement by ET Now carried the headline –‘Leading with Views through the Budget News! India reaffirms faith in the true leader.’
FTCP observed that the advertisement prominently featured the ‘Budget for Viksit Bharat’ logo, which could mislead viewers into believing that the leadership claim was specific to Budget coverage. The 15-week data used to support this leadership claim included all types of programming and did not specify Budget-related content. Since CNBC-TV18 had higher viewership on Budget Day and during Budget Week, FTCP observed that ET Now’s claim was misleading and is likely to lead to widespread disappointment in the minds of viewers.
In the order accessed by MediaNews4U, ASCI’s FTCP ruled that the claim violated Chapter I, Clauses 1.4 and 1.5 of the ASCI Code. The panel directed ET Now to withdraw the misleading claim by March 21, 2025.
It is understood that in response to a technical opinion sought by ASCI, it has validated ET Now’s claim as fair and fully substantiated. However, despite this validation, ASCI’s Fast Track Complaints Panel (FTCP) proceeded to pass a final order against ET Now.
