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Advertisements featuring Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone and Vidya Balan ordered to be Withdrawn/ Modified
ASCI responds to CERC complaints against shampoo and hair oil advertisements; finds the claims misleading by exaggeration and omission
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has upheld the complaints of Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC), Ahmedabad against the advertisements of personal care products endorsed by famous personalities. Advertisements that were questioned included Dabur Vatika Shampoo featuring Kareena Kapoor Khan, LOréal Paris Extraordinary Clay Shampoo featuring Deepika Padukone and Vidya Balan endorsed Nihar Shanti Badam Amla Hair Oil. Interestingly, none of these advertisers could provide any evidence of the consent of the celebrities with respect to the claims made or of the fact that the celebrities have done due diligence before signing up for the endorsements. Such advertisements are likely to exploit the consumers lack of knowledge.
The Dabur Vatika Shampoo TVC made tall claims: All new Dabur Vatika Shampoo with the satt poshan (7 benefits) of ingredients such as henna, shikakai and amla which makes hair problem free and healthy. The advertiser (Dabur India Limited) stated that the product was constituted of aqueous extracts. However, the amount of water in the extract was not defined which made it difficult to determine the exact weight of the active extracts. ASCI also disagreed with the advertisers contention that the product was made under a ‘cosmetic’ licence and was not subject to scrutiny for quantity and impact of ingredients. No clinical data was presented to substantiate the problem free hair claim. The advertiser admitted that as a standard practice, optimum level of lighting and make-up ensured Kareena Kapoor Khan looked glamorous before the camera. The visual depiction of the celebritys hair was, therefore, misleading by omission of such reference in the TVC.
Similar problems were present in the TVC of Deepika Padukone endorsed LOréal Paris Extraordinary Clay where the advertiser (LOréal India P. Ltd.) stated it to be a common industry practice to show celebrities with some level of make up in the advertisements. The advertisement made claims that the product possess the power of pure clay in shampoo, keeps hair non-stop fresh for upto 72 hours”, without any specific scientific evaluation studies to show the effectiveness (and the time for which such effects last) of their shampoo. A false sense of precision was created by reference to 72 hours. The claim was misleading by implication.
In the commercial for Nihar Shanti Badam Amla Hair Oil, celebrity Vidya Balan asserts that Nihar Shanti Amla consists of the goodness of badam (almonds) which gives black, silky hair. The Advertiser (Marico Ltd.) in their response only claimed superiority of the product to “unoiled hair”. However, ASCI noted that the TVC showed contextual comparison to amla oil. The advertiser also attributed the benefit of black silky hair to goodness of badam which was not substantiated.
CERC has been working relentlessly towards reducing the menace of misleading advertisements by actively monitoring and reporting misleading, false and objectionable advertisements to regulatory authorities. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Government of India has also awarded a project to CERC on Campaign against Misleading Advertisements.
