Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) code
ASCI's Mission
ASCI has one overarching goal: to maintain and enhance the public's confidence in advertising.
ASCI seeks to ensure that advertisements conform to its Code for Self-Regulation which requires advertisements to be
· Truthful and Fair to Consumers and Competitors
· Within the bounds of generally accepted standards of public decency and propriety
· Not used indiscriminately for the promotion of products, hazardous or harmful to society or to individuals particularly minors to a degree unacceptable to society at large
ASCI propagates its Code and a sense of responsibility for its observance amongst advertisers, advertising agencies and others connected with the creation of advertisements, and the media.
ASCI encourages the public to COMPLAIN (*) against advertisements with which they may be unhappy for any reason and ensures that each complaint receives a prompt and objective consideration by an impartial committee Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) which takes into account the view point of the advertiser, and an appropriate decision is communicated to all concerned.
ASCI endeavors’ to achieve compliance with its decisions through reasoned persuasion and the power of public opinion.
ASCI is a voluntary self-regulation council, registered as a not-for-profit Company under section 25 of the Indian Company Act. It’s formed to safeguard against the indiscriminate use of advertising for the promotion of products which are regarded as hazardous to society or to individuals to a degree or of a type which is unacceptable to society at large
Section 6 of the said code states: ‘Advertisements for products whose advertising is prohibited or restricted by law or by this code must not circumvent such restrictions by purporting to be advertisements for other products the advertising of which is not prohibited or restricted by law or by this code.
In judging whether or not any particular advertisement is an indirect advertisement for product whose advertising is restricted or prohibited, due attention shall be paid to the following:
(a) Visual content of the advertisement must depict only the product being advertised and not the prohibited or restricted product in any form or manner.
(b) The advertisement must not make any direct or indirect reference to the prohibited or restricted products.
(c) The advertisement must not create any nuances or phrases promoting prohibited products.’
Interpretation: It specifically prohibits surrogate advertising and lays down guidelines which qualifies it to be so, namely - Whether the legal product under a tobacco brand, sought to be advertised, has been produced in reasonable quantities or not.
Whether in the disputed advertisement, there are any direct/indirect clues to the promotion of the restricted product i.e. tobacco or not.
ASCI's Mission
ASCI has one overarching goal: to maintain and enhance the public's confidence in advertising.
ASCI seeks to ensure that advertisements conform to its Code for Self-Regulation which requires advertisements to be
· Truthful and Fair to Consumers and Competitors
· Within the bounds of generally accepted standards of public decency and propriety
· Not used indiscriminately for the promotion of products, hazardous or harmful to society or to individuals particularly minors to a degree unacceptable to society at large
ASCI propagates its Code and a sense of responsibility for its observance amongst advertisers, advertising agencies and others connected with the creation of advertisements, and the media.
ASCI encourages the public to COMPLAIN (*) against advertisements with which they may be unhappy for any reason and ensures that each complaint receives a prompt and objective consideration by an impartial committee Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) which takes into account the view point of the advertiser, and an appropriate decision is communicated to all concerned.
ASCI endeavors’ to achieve compliance with its decisions through reasoned persuasion and the power of public opinion.
ASCI is a voluntary self-regulation council, registered as a not-for-profit Company under section 25 of the Indian Company Act. It’s formed to safeguard against the indiscriminate use of advertising for the promotion of products which are regarded as hazardous to society or to individuals to a degree or of a type which is unacceptable to society at large
Section 6 of the said code states: ‘Advertisements for products whose advertising is prohibited or restricted by law or by this code must not circumvent such restrictions by purporting to be advertisements for other products the advertising of which is not prohibited or restricted by law or by this code.
In judging whether or not any particular advertisement is an indirect advertisement for product whose advertising is restricted or prohibited, due attention shall be paid to the following:
(a) Visual content of the advertisement must depict only the product being advertised and not the prohibited or restricted product in any form or manner.
(b) The advertisement must not make any direct or indirect reference to the prohibited or restricted products.
(c) The advertisement must not create any nuances or phrases promoting prohibited products.’
Interpretation: It specifically prohibits surrogate advertising and lays down guidelines which qualifies it to be so, namely - Whether the legal product under a tobacco brand, sought to be advertised, has been produced in reasonable quantities or not.
Whether in the disputed advertisement, there are any direct/indirect clues to the promotion of the restricted product i.e. tobacco or not.