Ahmedabad, 10 December 2020<\/p>\n
Some brands continue to make misleading claims such as \u201cboosting immunity\u201d and \u201ceradicating bacteria and viruses\u201d in their product advertisements to influence purchase decisions of consumers vulnerability during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
The television commercial of Blue Star Alkaline Water Purifiers says in its voiceover: \u201cAlkaline water is known to boost immunity. Introducing Blue Star Alkaline Water Purifiers with Immuno Boost Technology. Drink Alkaline water. Stay healthy. Stay Safe. Blue Star \u2013 the experts in alkaline water.\u201d<\/p>\n
CERC lodged a complaint against the advt. It felt the misleading claims may prompt people to buy the purifier thinking it would protect them from Covid-19. Based on advertiser\u2019s response, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) upheld complaint and found the advt claims to be misleading. It made the following observations:
\n\u2022 The claim \u201cAlkaline water is known to boost immunity\u201d is inadequately substantiated and misleading by exaggeration, as the advertiser did not submit any studies showing a boost in immunity in humans. Moreover, no study has demonstrated any boost in immunity by use of the appliance.
\n\u2022 While \u201cImmono Boost\u201d is a registered trademark, advertisers should be prevented from using such trademarks which may cause a misunderstanding among consumers that they are an official endorsement of the claim. The TVC does not show the TM symbol but just the words \u201cImmuno Boost Technology\u201d which is misleading by implication and omission.
\n\u2022 The claim: \u201cDrink Alkaline water. Stay healthy. Stay Safe\u201d is misleading as no evidence was submitted to show the long-term safety of the processed water.
\n\u2022 In view of all the unsubstantiated claims as above, the claim: \u201cBlue Star – the experts in alkaline water\u201d is also found misleading by exaggeration.<\/p>\n
ASCI said the claims are likely to cause grave and widespread disappointment in the minds of the consumers. The advertiser has been asked to modify the advt or withdraw it by 11 December 2020.<\/p>\n
Earlier, in 2018, had complained against an advt of Blue Star Water Purifier making similar claims, which was also found to be misleading by ASCI. In view of this, has written to the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), newly established under the Consumer Protection Act 2019, urging it to take strict action in this matter.<\/p>\n
In another instant, has also complained about another similar misleading advt. of Cuckoo Water Healthifiers. The advt claimed that the product \u201cuses nano-filtration and a five-step advanced purification process to enrich the water with minerals, increases the alkaline level and eradicates 99.9% bacteria and viruses to make it the healthiest and the purest form of water for human consumption\u201d. ASCI upheld all objections and found the advertisement claims to be misleading by ambiguity.<\/p>\n
For further information please contact:<\/p>\n
Ms Anusha Iyer (O) 079-27489945\/46 (M) +91 9825005612<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ahmedabad, 10 December 2020 Some brands continue to make misleading claims such as \u201cboosting immunity\u201d and \u201ceradicating bacteria and viruses\u201d in their product advertisements to influence purchase decisions of consumers vulnerability during the pandemic. The television commercial of Blue Star Alkaline Water Purifiers says in its voiceover: \u201cAlkaline water is known to boost immunity. Introducing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[3,54,4766,4758,4771,7791,7837],"tags":[7915,9311,9308,5109,9310,589,9238,7917,173,107,18,9309,10958,7914,8822,9312,239,7916,9313,9314,350,9315,9316,9317,11243,11244,11242],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/allgujaratnews.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/blue.jpg?fit=1007%2C569&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paUKPQ-bOj","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45403"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45403"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45405,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45403\/revisions\/45405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}