Mumbai : While Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) upheld complaints against 185 out of 230 advertisements during March 2015, there were ten ads from Print & Broadcast media which were snubbed by ASCI.
The ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) didn’t restricted itself under the Jurisdiction of monitoring complaints against Misleading ads from categories such as Personal and Healthcare, Education, E-commerce & Teleshopping, Food & Beverages alone, In fact the ASCI stretched its iron first against the tall clams on Ratings and Performances by Print and Electronic Media Companies by using Ratings or Surveys by measurement agencies like BARC, TAM and IRS as a source.
During the period of March 2015, ASCI upheld against 10 misleading and false advertisements released by Print & Broadcast Medias for various reason such as Violation of Guidelines prescribed by rating agencies and short period of comparison.
ASCI upheld against complaints on misleading ads released by Media entities such as TV Today Network, Times Television Network, Madhyamam Broadcasting, The Sandesh, Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing, Malayala Manorama and INX News.
The following are the details of Print & Broadcast Media ad campaigns snubbed by ASCI :
1) TV Today Network (Headlines Today): The advertisement’s claim, “News Today at nine beats the Newshour four out of five days”, was found to be misleading. This claim quoting TAM source violated the TAM Guidelines. The period of comparison is too short and thereby confers an artificial advantage upon the advertiser.
2) TV Today Network (Headlines Today): The advertisement’s claim, “News Today at nine beats the Newshour in Delhi + Mumbai”, was not substantiated and was misleading. This claim quoting TAM source violated the TAM Guidelines. The period of comparison is too short and thereby confers an artificial advantage upon the advertiser.
3) Times Television Network (Movies Now): The advertisement of the channel claims to be No. 1 English movie channel, which is not substantiated. This claim quoting TAM source violated the TAM Guidelines. The period of comparison is too short and thereby confers an artificial advantage upon the advertiser.
4) Times Television Network (Movies Now): The advertisement of the channel claims to be No. 1 English movie channel consistently, which is not substantiated. This claim quoting TAM source violated the TAM Guidelines. The period of comparison is too short and thereby confers an artificial advantage upon the advertiser.
5) Madhyamam Broadcasting (MediaOne TV): The advertisement of the channel claims to occupy the urban sky, which was misleading. The claim quoting TAM sources violated the TAM guidelines. The period of comparison is too short and thereby confers an artificial advantage upon the advertiser.
6) The Sandesh (Sandesh Samachar): The channel claims to be first choice of every Gujarati – Sandesh News No. 1. Also, the channel claims to leave behind ratings of the national news channels, which is a misleading claim. This claim quoting TAM sources violated the TAM Guidelines. The period of comparison is too short and thereby confers an artificial advantage of the advertiser.
7) Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing: The advertisement of the channel claims to be No. 2 amongst other Malayalam news channels, which is not substantiated and is misleading. This claim quoting TAM source violated the TAM Guidelines. The period of comparison is too short and thereby confers an artificial advantage upon the advertiser.
8) Malayala Manorama (MMN Manorama News): The advertisement of the channel claims that it is Kerala’s No. 1 news channel and the news they telecast is better than that of Asianet, Mathrubhumi News, Reporter and People. This claim quoting TAM source violated the TAM Guidelines. The period of comparison is too short and thereby confers an artificial advantage upon the advertiser.
9) The Sandesh (Sandesh Samachar): The channel’s claims to be No. 1, which is unsubstantiated by TAM ratings, are false and misleading. These claims quoting TAM source violated the TAM Guidelines. The period of comparison is too short and thereby confers an artificial advantage upon the advertiser.
10) INX News: The advertisement claims News X to be India’s No. 1 English news channel, which is false and misleading as the source quoted for this claim of TAM ratings violated the TAM Guidelines. The period of comparison is too short and thereby confers an artificial advantage upon the advertiser.
