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No magic: Late night advertisements offering supernatural cure are illegal, must be curbed
If you surf television channels a little late in the night, you will come across advertisements that shock you for their brazen violation of the laws of the land, for the crude vulgarity of the messages, and most of all, for the blatant lies that they convey
If you surf television channels a little late in the night, you will come across advertisements that shock you for their brazen violation of the laws of the land, for the crude vulgarity of the messages, and most of all, for the blatant lies that they convey. And yes, despite laws against them, these advertisements continue to proliferate and exploit the vulnerable.
The Advertising Code formulated under the Cable Television Network Rules says that “ No advertisement shall contain references which are likely to lead the public to infer that the product advertised or any of its ingredients has some special or miraculous or supernatural property or quality, which is difficult of being proved”. Yet, you will see innumerable advertisements of so-called ayurvedic formulations promising miracles!
The Code also says that “Advertising carried in the cable service shall be so designed as to conform to the laws of the country and should not offend morality, decency and religious susceptibilities of the subscribers”. Yet there are advertisements that exploit religious beliefs or sentiments to peddle lies!
The recent Bombay High Court order prohibiting the advertisements of ‘Hanuman Chalisa Yantra’ and similar products befooling consumers with promises of magical powers is a case in point. The Order, which came in response to a complaint filed in 2015 against such advertisements telecast on four channels, said not only the advertisers and sellers of the product, but also TV channels that telecast them were liable under the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013.
The Yantra, in the form of a pendant and costing ₹4,900, was touted to have extraordinary powers – it guaranteed huge profits to businessmen suffering losses, jobs to the unemployed, marriage to those looking for a life partner, good health to those suffering from diseases! What was even more shocking was the endorsement of such falsehood by celebrities!
The high court order of January 5 in fact draws attention to the poor implementation of laws meant to prevent such advertisements. In this case, the detailed reference to the provisions of the Black Magic Act in the high court’s order, also shows that besides the central laws, some of the states have equipped themselves with additional laws, yet have failed to effectively tackle the menace.
In fact most of the advertisements promising miracles or magical cures violate the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act. The law prohibits not only misleading advertisements pertaining to drugs, but also advertisements of drugs and magical cures for a number of diseases and disorders specified in the law. Contravention is punishable with six months imprisonment and fine However states have a poor record of enforcing this law.
Now the government has armed the Central Consumer Protection Authority, constituted under the new Consumer Protection Act, 2019, with powers to regulate false and misleading advertisements. In addition to imposition of hefty fines on endorsers and advertisers, the law also seeks to punish manufacturers or service providers guilty of issuing false or misleading advertisements with imprisonment extending to two years for the first offence.
However, for all these laws to be effective, what is most crucial is the monitoring of the media to detect violations of the laws pertaining to advertisements. And this is where the efforts are lacking, particularly by the state governments, which are required to set up monitoring committees at the state and the district levels to prevent infringement of the Programme and Advertising Codes under the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act and Rules.
The Information and Broadcasting ministry, in a communication sent to all the states in 2017, had lamented that monitoring committees had only been set up in 19 states, five union territories and 327 districts, and even where they were set up, not every one of them was active.
Better monitoring, better coordination between the centre and the states and quick action against advertisements and advertisers contravening the law are the need of the hour.
