No kidding: Ads can be quite misleading
Following concerns about companies promoting unhealthy practices-especially through advertising targeted at children and young adults-companies are beginning to make all the right noises, and some have even issued marketing guidelines on the same. For instance, Kellogg has decided to drop Spiderman and Shrek from ads for its cereals and snacks.
We think it's time to present some recent ads that have fallen foul with our very own ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India). To be fair, most of these were withdrawn, but it goes to show that creativity often has little to do with good old common sense. All data has been sourced from ASCI website (http://www.ascionline.org/five/cccdecisions.htm).
Cadbury India * 
Agency: N.A.
Visual: "A child eating fruits and another child eating Gems of the same flavours. At the end of the advertisement, the child eating fruits is shown eating Fruity Gems instead of fruits (because it has many more flavours)."
Complaint: Advertisement has influenced the complainant's six-year-old daughter so much that she doesn't want to eat fruits and wants to eat only Cadbury Fruity Gems.
Action: Advertiser assured appropriate modification of the ad.
Neo Sports Broadcast *
Product: Neo Sports channel.
Agency: N.A.
Visual: "A young boy, aspiring to become a big cricketer, is shown wearing cricket gear and playing a shot in the air. He later comes back to his original state with a bucket and broom in his hand."
Complaint: Advertisement encourages child labour, which is banned.
Action: TV commercial withdrawn.
Heinz India* 
Agency: N.A.
Visual: Claim of unnatural height increase by "this much" (visually depicted).
Complaint: Height of complainant's child has not increased by the amount shown in the commercial despite him being fed Complan for a year. Therefore, the claim of massive height increase is not substantiated, and is misleading audiences by gross exaggeration.
Action: TV commercial modified.
Nike India
Product: Nike Sports Shoes.
Agency: N.A.
Visual: "Some boys kicking a football at a (girl) doll hanging from a door post. A small girl watches them with apprehension."
Complaint: This may lead someone to do this with a live baby. The advertisement is demeaning, vulgar, and in bad taste.
Action: None. Ad campaign concluded in January 2006.
ITC 
Agency: FCB-Ulka
Visual: "A young boy attempts to play basketball, is not able to reach the basket and is, therefore, bullied. The mascot of the company gives Sunfeast biscuits to the boy, who after eating it, instantly grows taller and is able to reach the basket."
Complaint: Visual depiction likely to exploit the vulnerability of children. Ad is misleading.
Action: TV commercial withdrawn.
