The ASCI is a self-regulatory organization established in 1985 to ensure advertising in India is truthful, harmless and honest. It receives around 150 complaints annually which are reviewed by the Consumer Complaints Council. The CCC is composed of industry and public representatives and examines complaints to determine if ads violate ASCI guidelines. Several case studies are presented where the CCC ruled in favor of both complainants and advertisers. Self-regulation is advocated to avoid more stringent government oversight of advertising.

1. Presentation on:
‘Regulations in Advertising’

2. What is Advertising?
“Advertising is the non-personal communication of
information usually paid for and usually persuasive in
nature about products, services or ideas by identified
sponsors through the various media.”
- Bovee

3. What are Advertising Regulations?
Advertising regulation refers to the laws and rules
defining the ways in which products can be advertised
in a particular region.

5. "Advertising is a non-moral force, like
electricity, which not only illuminates but
electrocutes. Its worth to civilization
depends upon how it is used."
(J. Walter Thompson)
The namesake & Founder of the JWT advertising agency

6. - Advertising has been in the vortex of controversy of the
many ills that it brings to society
- It is accused of encouraging materialism and
manipulating our behaviour generally contributing to
the downfall of our social system.
Hence, there comes a need for regulatory bodies

8. Purpose
The purpose of the regulatory bodies would be to make
sure that advertisers and advertisements are -
- Truthful and fair to consumers and competitors.
- Within the bounds of generally accepted standards of
public decency.
- 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.

9. Advertising Regulatory Bodies Around the World
Some of the well known regulatory bodies are-
 Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)
 Federal Trade Commission for United States
 Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for United Kingdom
 Advertising Standards Authority ASA) for South Africa

10. (ASCI)

11. -Was set up in 1985
-The Advertising Agencies Association of
India, the media owner's association and the
Indian Newspapers Society, came together
and took the initiative to form the ASCI (the
council)
- The council was voluntary and self-
regulatory, registered as a non-profit
Company .

12. Composition of ASCI
The Council is managed by a Board of Governors
consisting of 16 elected members, constituted as follows:
- 4 from Advertisers
- 4 from Advertising Agencies
- 4 from Media and
- 4 from Allied Professions like outdoor contractors, audio-
visual producers/distributors, consumer researchers,
printers, etc.

13. Objectives
The objectives of ASCI are to make sure advertisers and
advertisements are-
- Truthful and Honest
- Not offensive
- Not hazardous to society
- Fair with competitors
The Complaints the ASCI receives are handled by
Consumer Complaints Council (CCC)

14. CONSUMER COMPLAINTS COUNCIL (CCC)

15. Birth and composition of CCC
The ASCI’s Board of Governors set up a Consumer
Complaints Council (CCC) to examine complaints
received by the ASCI.
The composition of the CCC is as follows:
 9 from within the advertising industry representing
advertisers, advertising agencies, media owners
and allied professions.
 12 from society at large, consisting of eminent
consumer activists, educationists, prominent
journalists, lawyers, engineers, doctors, etc

16. Receiving
complaints
- For public awareness sake, from time-to-time the Council puts
out advertisements in newspapers
- This invites them to complain to the Council
Each year the Council receives approximately 150 complaints.
- 50 % Upheld
- 80% Voluntarily modified/withdrawn

17. This is one of the ads of ASCI encouraging people to complaint against ads making
false claims!

18. Complaining
Procedures

19. Online and Offline complaining
Who can Complaint?
ANYONE!
There are two ways of complaining to CCC. They are through
- Online and
- Printed form
The form can be downloaded from,
ASCI’s Official Website - http://www.ascionline.org/

20. Online Complaint Form

21. Printed Form
This is the form that
has to be filled and
sent to ASCI

22. CASE STUDIES

23. CASE STUDIES: CASE 1
DECISION IN FAVOR OF COMPLAINANT
Brand- Bajaj Pulsar
Complaint- Visuals had bikers doing extreme stunts
but the disclaimer was almost invisible. So
complaint was filed keeping in consideration of the
recent bike stunt mishaps.
CCC said that- This shows dangerous stunts without
having a regard for safety and hence some action
should be taken by the brand.
Result- Ad was modified with a clear disclaimer in the
beginning itself.

24. CASE STUDIES: CASE 2
DECISION IN FAVOR OF COMPLAINANT
Brand- AXE Dark Temptation Deodorant
Complaint- Ad is in bad taste and is vulgar, as it
shows the girls licking and biting the boy. The scene
of the girl biting his backside is highly objectionable.
 CCC said that- The Visuals were indecent and likely
to cause grave or widespread offence.
Result- Ad was modified by deleting a few scenes

25. CASE STUDIES: CASE 3
DECISION IN FAVOR OF COMPLAINANT
Brand- KFC
 Complaint- Car crashes after driver loses concentration while
eating KFC product. Showing eating while driving a car, is
promoting an unsafe practice. The words "non stop khao, non
stop khilao", in conjunction with the Ad being of KFC bucket
size pack, is clear intention of advertiser promoting
over/excessive consumption of KFC, which being fried
chicken has high content of fat in it.
 CCC said that- Visual depiction of the “driver licking his finger”
implied that he has been eating whilst driving, which could
result in harm to the driver/passengers. Ad shows a
dangerous practice without justifiable reason
Result- Ad was modified

26. CASE STUDIES: CASE 4
DECISION IN FAVOR OF ADVERTISER
Brand- MOTOROLA
 Complaint- A father telling his son to be responsible and not to
litter the house. The son who is shown having a mobile phone
(Motoyuva model) with earphones just keeps staring at his
father and increases the voice of the music on the mobile
hone therby making the voice of this father fading. Ad conveys
the message that it is cool for today’s youth to just ignore what
their elders are telling them.
 CCC said that- The “behaviour of the son ignoring his father”,
as shown in the Ad, was not likely to cause grave or
widespread offence.
Result- Complaint Not Valid

27. CASE STUDIES: CASE 5
DECISION IN FAVOR OF ADVERTISER
Brand- BIG BAZAAR
 Complaint- Print ad has the tagline- “Is se sasta aur
accha kahin nahi!”. According to the Complainant, there
are items available outside, which are cheaper than
what Big Bazaar claims.
 CCC said that- Claim misleading by exaggeration.
 Result- The Advertiser provided comparative bills of Big
Bazaar and other stores, which proved that on a basket
of commodities, they are cheaper. So no changes to the
ad was made.

28. BIG BAZAAR- PRINT AD

29. Advertising
Regulatory
Body In
USA
Federal
Trade
Commission
(FTC)

30. ASCI is a non- profit organization while FTC is a government
organization
FTC collects complaints about companies, business practices,
and identity theft while ASCI only concern advertising.
The FTC enters all complaints it receives into Consumer
Sentinel, a secure online database that is used by
thousands of civil and criminal law enforcement
authorities worldwide. This is not the process in ASCI as it
is not govt and hence can’t and doesn’t involve law
enforcement authorities and also they receive very less
complaints.

32. ASCI home page says- Regulate yourself, or someone else will.
Self-regulation is the most advised way to stay out of
unwanted troubles. In India, self regulation is quite high
considering the low complaints.
Also, when complaints are filed at ASCI, there is a high chance
that the brand image may get damaged. So, its high time
that advertisers think twice before spending lakhs and crores
on an advertisement.