Advertising sector watchdog ASCI upheld complaints against 151 misleading advertisements in September, including those of Cadila, Grofers, United Breweries, Hitachi, Berger Paints, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Nissan and Godrej Consumer.
The Customer Complaints Council (CCC) of Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) received 199 complaints for the month. It upheld 75 in the education category, 39 in healthcare category, 10 in food and beverages and 8 in the personal care segment, among others.
The CCC found an advertisement of Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor India for its entry level car Datsun redi-GO "misleading".
"The advertisement's claim, 'Datsun redi-Go starting from Rs 2.39 lakh' was not substantiated with supporting evidence of genuine customers who have availed of this offer, and is misleading by implication," said the ad regulator.
ASCI also pulled up grocery delivery start-up Grofers for its ad claiming to sell Dunky Doos Donut Box of six at Rs 199. According to CCC, it was "misleading by ambiguity and omission" of mention that the price quoted is subject to taxes.
Commenting on the matter, a Grofers spokesman said: "The advertisement carried the price of the product as Rs 199, followed by an asterisk and a further caveat with the words 'T&C Apply'. We firmly believe that this leaves no scope for ambiguity, especially in the context of an online marketplace where a customer is provided the final price chargeable well before purchase."
ASCI also upheld claims against Vodafone India for its ad of Vodafone HD voice calling.
"The advertisement's claim 'Enjoy life-like sound with HD voice calls' was inadequately substantiated and is misleading," said ASCI.
Similarly, it pulled up Idea Cellular for its 'Idea 3G - Exclusive offers' campaign.
"The advertisement's claim, 'Unlimited 2G after free data usage', is misleading by omission of the condition that the 2G data speed is capped at 10 kbps," ASCI said.
ASCI also upheld a complaint against Berger Paints India, which claimed in an advertisement of Berger Express Painting that 'You will be amazed to see how the trained painters use the hi-tech sanding machines to scrape your walls without any dust and use the automatic paining machines to paint the walls perfectly in no time'.
According to the ad regulator, the claims "were inadequately substantiated with supporting evidence and are misleading."
Mails sent to Emami, Vodafone, Idea, Nissan and Godrej Consumers seeking their response remained unanswered.
Cadila Healthcare claimed in an advertisement for
Nutralite that 'indulge in your favourites without worrying about health', which implies that with Nutralite, one can indulge even in not so healthy food, ASCI said.
"It was noted that many other factors contribute to cholesterol in the body and contribution of the advertised product to 'cholesterol lowering' by virtue of being a 'replacement' product is negligible," ASCI said
"The advertisement is likely to exploit consumers' lack of experience and knowledge. It was concluded that while the product does not contain cholesterol, the claim '0 per cent Cholesterol, 0 per cent worries' is misleading by ambiguity and implication," it added.
Godrej Consumer Products also failed to substantiate its claim of Godrej Aer Pocket lasting 30 days.
CCC pulled up Emami Agrotech for an advertisement of its sunflower oil, soyabean oil and refined rice bran oil claiming that their regular consumption helps reduce risk of heart disease, improves skin health and immunity, without inadequately being substantiated.
"In absence of clinical evidence specific to the advertised product, the claims in the advertisement, 'Regular consumption helps reduce risk of heart disease' and 'Lowers bad Cholesterol', attributed directly to the advertised product were inadequately substantiated," it said.
United Breweries Ltd was also pulled up for ad of Heineken, where it placed the brand against a foaming beer background, with the statement 'Born in Amsterdam. Raised in Bengaluru'.
It "appears to be an advertisement for promotion of a liquor product - beer," the ad regulator said.
