The public draft for the new rules of surrogate advertising by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) has been finalised in the detailed and elaborative format and will now be released in the next quarter, between October and December.
The consultative process of forming the guidelines though began in February this year, there has only been a tentative timeline for it to be made public and has been under consulting process ever since.
The new guidelines seek tighter implementation, heavy penalties, the inclusion of digital and social media, and no ambiguity in definition of surrogate advertising.
While the principle of the draft guidelines would remain similar to the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) guidelines, it is said to have drawn inspiration from the global best practices.
Read more: Ad spends likely down by 30% for alco-bev brands as govt cracks whip on surrogate ads
Special consideration and thoughts have been given to the clear definition of surrogate ads and what constitute the ‘brand extension’- the grey area due to which most of the alco-bev brands often are never penalised. The objective is for the consumers to not be misled into believing that the ads are for prohibited items.
The new draft rules prohibit the promotion of items such as soda, water or music CDs having a similar design, pattern, label or logo to that of restricted products like alcohol and liquor.
Nita Kapoor, outgoing CEO, International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI), shares, that the framework for genuine brand extensions include trademarks of the restricted product category that have/will diversify into various categories including FMCG, beverages, services with distinctive packaging, designs, and communications, that will follow the category conventions that the diversification is being done in.
So, there would be no ambiguity for the end consumer between what is a genuine trademark vis-a-vis its restricted product.
“Genuine brand extensions will ensure content, tonality, narrative, and the call out of the category will be very distinct from restricted category trademarks,” she highlights.
She adds, “The genuine brand extensions are diversified businesses with its own P&L, back end value chain of new channels and partners. There are very strong firewalls that have been built internally by member companies in their respective organisations across the industry.”
ISWAI members include the likes of Diageo and Pernod Ricard.
The collaborative engagement with the alco-bev industry stakeholders was initiated by the Department of Consumer Affairs in February this year, followed by a consultative process that has led to multiple discussions between the alco-bev companies and the CCPA committee.
Kapoor notes that there have been additional self-regulations that the industry has offered and discussed with the committee that has been set up for this very purpose and the ambiguity of what is a surrogate versus and what is a genuine brand extension will hopefully be resolved very soon.
That apart, one of the other recommendations of the industry is that those celebrities used for genuine brand extensions will be distinct from the celebrities considered for a restricted product, she adds.
She is hopeful that the draft will be released within the next quarter.
It is to be noted that at present, the CCPA also has guidelines in place to curb surrogate advertising. In its guidelines for ‘Prevention of Misleading Advertisements’ issued in December 2022, CCPA stated that no advertisements can be made suggesting directly or indirectly that it is for goods, products, or services whose advertising is otherwise prohibited/ restricted by law.
The guidelines, however, provide an exception, whereby, a brand used for ‘prohibited’ goods/ products, services could be used for other goods so long as it does not otherwise violate the guidelines. This exemption is vague, according to the industry safeguards and it is unclear whether the prohibition on surrogate advertising is absolute or not. Result of which, CCPA continues to identify and observe multiple instances where liquor brands are violating these regulations.
Last year, ASCI reported 82 commercials of direct alcohol ads and 65 commercials of vaping and e-cigarettes to various authorities for further action.
That apart, industry stakeholders in the past have pointed out that the current framework of guidelines for surrogates advertisements is less stringent for digital and social media platforms, where monitoring and regulation are challenging, allowing brands to reach consumers through influencer marketing and online promotions.
Henceforth, they requested the DoCA to ensure that the upcoming guidelines cover all media platforms, including digital and social media.
Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary General at the ASCI, recently told Storyboard18 that while the guidelines are the same across media, the challenge of digital media in terms of sheer number of ads definitely makes it more challenging to monitor.