ASCI – storyboard18

EXCLUSIVE: B4U to face music for airing illegal betting and gambling platform’s ads

The advertisement of illegal offshore betting and gambling company, Melbet being aired on B4U Music TV channel.

B4U Music, one of the leading music channel was airing advertisements of an illegal offshore betting and gambling firm, Melbet.

ASCI escalates issue of illegal betting and gambling platforms’ ads to MIB

Prathap Suthan criticized the current ecosystem for lacking accountability, allowing clients to arm-twist agencies into lopsided contracts, unpaid pitches, and overburdened deliverables.

Storyboard18 recently reported that offshore illegal gambling firms have been using the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) as a sporting platform for surrogate advertising.

HUL sees rise in consumer complaints against its advertisements

Hindustan Unilever in its results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2024 stated that the ad and promotions spends increased to hit Rs 1616 crore in Q4.

In FY 2020-21 HUL in its annual report, had disclosed that 28 complaints were filed against its ads with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). In FY 2021-22, 14 complaints were filed with ASCI.

ASCI appoints NS Rajan as chairman

NS Rajan - Chairman, ASCI

At the meeting, Saugata Gupta, managing Director & CEO, Marico Limited, was elected vice-chairman, while Shashidhar Sinha, chief executive officer at IPG Mediabrands India, was appointed honorary treasurer.

Govt directs ad agencies to ensure strict compliance of guidelines on surrogate advertisements

98% of these processed ads required modification to align with regulatory standards. Over the last three years, ASCI has also reported 1085 cases of advertisements that were in direct violation of law to both central and state regulators. 765 of these were illegal betting ads and 320 were direct liquor advertising.

The directions come in the wake of surrogate ads being noticed in the recent sports events that were televised globally.

ASCI reports 385 Virtual Digital Asset ads with influencer disclosure violations; 296 Binomo ads needed modification

The top six violative categories included emerging sectors such as gaming and cryptocurrency. (Representative Image via Unsplash)

ASCI’s Sector Report Card shows that 48 percent of the ads that were processed were published digitally, and 29 percent of the complaints that were filed involved influencers.

Are crypto investors losing faith in finfluencers?

Multisig wallets are a type of crypto wallet that requires two or more private keys to authenticate and confirm transactions before they are processed.

The news of cryptocurrency exchange Vauld suspending all its transactions has raised questions about finfluencers promoting the brand and the high-risk category.

Education category largest violator of advertising code in 2021-22: ASCI Report

Representative Image via Unsplash

Emerging categories like crypto and gaming turned out to be a part of the top 5 categories that violated the advertising guidelines most.

Repeat offender? ASCI pulls up offensive Layer’r Shot deo ad

Over the years, the deo brands have started taking baby steps away from their sexist ad legacies, to talk about equality and respect. (Representational image: Samantha Sophia via Unsplash)

But the ad has also opened a can of worms. This isn’t the first questionable ad created by the brand.