Wanted: Watertight laws on surrogate liquor ads

The Central Consumer Protection Authority of India (CCPA) is finalising draft rules on surrogate advertising of products like alcohol and tobacco that are not allowed to promote themselves in the media

MUMBAI: The Central Consumer Protection Authority of India (CCPA) is finalising draft rules on surrogate advertising of products like alcohol and tobacco that are not allowed to promote themselves in the media. A ‘Mint’ report dated December 9 said CCPA will release its guidelines this month having consulted the liquor industry, consumer groups and law enforcement agencies.

Wanted: Watertight laws on surrogate liquor ads

Direct or indirect promotion of liquor and tobacco products is prohibited under the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act and the ad industry’s self-regulatory body. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has an ad framework that allows legitimate extensions of alcohol and tobacco (cigarettes, pan masala) brands as opposed to surrogates. Surrogate advertising refers to companies promoting their liquor or tobacco brands in the guise of other harmless products (soda, packaged water, music CDs, glassware) that may not be real businesses.

The ASCI code mandates product or service brand extensions be registered with relevant government authorities and meet other qualification criteria like specified sales turnover, distribution, investments and certification from an industry body or a chartered accountant.

ASCI CEO Manisha Kapoor however said that it is unclear if the CCPA draft will have overlaps with the existing ASCI code. “Though ASCI guidelines say that brand extensions should not directly or indirectly refer to the prohibited products, the government may be more specific about visuals, like how a logo can or cannot be used,” she said.

The government probably stepped in to frame laws on surrogate advertising in view of the rampant violation of existing guidelines during the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the World Cup two years ago. A slew of complaints on liquor and tobacco firms splurging on surrogate ads during the matches resulted in the government sending notices to some of these firms.

“Honestly, there are very few legitimate brand extensions in the market. Besides, ASCI is not a statutory body and has no penal powers,” said Samar Singh Sheikhawat, independent business consultant and former marketing head at the liquor firm UB.

At the moment, Kapoor is not worried about surrogate ads but the rise of direct promotion of alcohol on digital media via influencers, she said. While ASCI cannot ban these promotions, it has been monitoring the increased influencer activity on alcohol brands and bringing them to the notice of the authorities, she added.

Sheikhawat said the rules for digital media are not nearly as stringent or clear. “There seems to be no age-gating on some influencer platforms for liquor. Individual influencers also promote the brands directly,” he said. “Digital is still a grey area for liquor advertising and often brands take advantage of that,” added Ambika Sharma, founder of digital agency Pulp Strategy.

To be sure, Pulp Strategy had an alcoholic beverages company as a client till recently for which it promoted various spirits on digital media. However, since the dos and don’ts on digital weren’t clear, the company rolled back the promotions. “Now we are waiting for the new government guidelines for clarity,” Sharma said.

Sheikhawat added that rules around liquor ads are complex since some of them vary from state to state. Though most states allow promotions at ‘point of sale’ through posters, neon signs, banners and chest coolers at retail outlets, a lot depends on the local excise official, he said. “Sometimes even within the same city, one official may allow in-store promotions in one area but another excise personnel may not permit it in another area. It is arbitrary and whimsical,” he said.

Though many developed countries like the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand permit promotion of alcoholic beverages, several others have reasonable restrictions on advertising. “Some countries are dark markets where you simply cannot promote tobacco or alcohol. India lies somewhere in between,” Sheikhawat said.