55 advertisements on Covid-19 reported to AYUSH Ministry in May: ASCI

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) on Thursday said it found 52 campaigns violating the AYUSH Ministry guidelines for making claims related to Covid-19 across media platforms in May.

Apart from that, the self-regulatory body for the advertising industry said it received three complaints from the general public about other brands.

All the 55 advertisements have been flagged to the AYUSH Ministry for further action, it added.

In April, the first full month of the lockdown, the body had reported 50 campaigns by ayurveda and homeopathic drug makers offering cure for the novel coronavirus.

The three campaigns which were found to be violating laid down norms following public complaints were those of Kuka Cough Syrup, Alchem Phytoceuticals and Prashanthi Ayurvedic Centre, it said in a statement.

The 52 campaigns flagged by ASCI's own monitoring included dubious claims by ayurveda and homeopathy practitioners regarding the Covid-19 infection.

Overall, ASCI's Customer Complaints Council (CCC) evaluated 228 advertisements which people complained about. Complaints against 221 of those were upheld, it said, adding a bulk 162 were from the healthcare sector and 47 from the education segment.

Cricket hero M S Dhoni, meanwhile, has faced ASCI flak for a Matrimony.com campaign whose claims could not be adequately substantiated, the body said.

The advertiser did not provide any evidence to show that Dhoni had done due diligence prior to endorsement, it added.

Telecom major Vodafone Idea also faced some heat for its 'REDX' campaign.

The ASCI said its CCC opined that the advertisements under question should correctly convey "50 per cent better service for REDX against standard Vodafone customers" as the said claim had nothing to do with other service providers.

"A disclaimer could be included indicating that the improvement quantified is on the average, which amortizes geographic effects, proximity, mobility, network loading, etc," it added.