Taking note of the Maggi noodles row, traders body CAIT has urged Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan to formulate policy and guidelines for brand ambassadors endorsing products.
"...The current Maggi row has given an opportunity to frame specific policy and guidelines for brand ambassadors to be followed while doing any endorsement for any product," the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said in a statement.
The traders body said it is a well known fact that endorsements are made primarily with an aim to push sales of a product and the person doing such endorsement generally enters into a contract against specific consideration and by virtue of which the Brand Ambassador becomes integral part of the sales campaign of such product.
Since endorsement in an advertisement makes large impact on the choice of the consumers, the brand ambassadors are not doing any charity but providing commercial services and as such they can not escape from the liability of good claims, they make in an endorsement, it said.
CAIT president B C Bhartia and secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said an endorsement means any advertising message including verbal statements, demonstrations or depictions of the name, signature, likeness or other identifying personal characteristics of an individual that consumers are likely to believe reflects the opinions, beliefs, findings, or experiences of the individual.
"Since it has vital bearing on consumers, there is a need of reasonable prudence and responsible conduct of the brand ambassador to avoid misleading and deceptive endorsements. Therefore, framing of policy and guidelines for brand ambassadors is the need of the hour," CAIT said.
