New Delhi: Apple showing 'iPhone 7' as 'iphone 7 plus variant' is among 143 advertisements dubbed as misleading by regulator ASCI, which also pulled up Coca-Cola India, Bharti Airtel and others for such campaigns.
Mobikwik, HUL, Nivea, Amul, Opera, Standard Chartered Bank and Pernod Ricard are among the companies against which a total of 191 complaints were received by Customer Complaints Council (CCC) of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) for January.
"The advertisement text states 'The amazing iPhone 7 is here', but shows an image of iPhone 7 Plus variant, which is misleading by ambiguity and implication," said ASCI.
The sector watchdog said although the advertisement had the Apple trademark with 'iPhone7' but said it didn't have any reference to 'series' in the advertisement text.
"In absence of any visual of iPhone 7 variant, it was concluded that the advertisement is likely to mislead the consumers about the product advertised and its corresponding features," it said.
"This is contradictory to the disclaimer made in the advertisement - the actions are for representational purposes alone and must not be copied by viewers... It was concluded that though the overall advertisement is not objectionable, regardless of the disclaimer the specific visual... encourages dangerous practices, manifests a disregard for safety and encourages negligence," it said.
When contacted, a Coca-Cola India spokesperson said: "On receiving feedback, we have on boarded suggestions from ASCI and modified the TV commercial (TVC). The revised TVC has been updated on air and on digital media."
Commenting on the matter, a HUL Company Spokesperson said: "We, as a responsible marketer and member of ASCI, have always complied with its guidelines and recommendations. We have suitably modified the said advertisement as per their recommendation."
When contacted Standard Chartered Bank said: "The up to 10 percent cash back offer was a campaign launched last year. The cash back cap and all other relevant details were shared with customers over multiple communication channels. However, ASCI felt that we needed to make certain modifications, and we have taken their inputs on board."
The regulator also upheld three complaints against leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel for "misleading" claims for free Calls Local + STD and a free upgrade for Airtel-V Fiber.
"The ad claim, "Free Calls Local + STD" cannot be said free as the prevailing price for data without advertised incentive is less i.e. from the consumer's point of view, they have to make a payment of Rs 149 to avail this offer although they get only 300MB data versus 500 MB data," it said However, when contacted Airtel declined to comment.
When contacted an Opera spokesperson said:" We adhere to the highest ethical standards and never share any exaggerated or misleading data with our consumers. Hence, our claim of Opera Mini saving up to 90 per cent data in our advertisement, is entirely true. We have proven our claims by internal and external tests from time to time over the years."
Digital payment firm MobiKwik also failed to substantiate its claim of "India's most secure e-wallet" for Mobikwik E-wallet and found to be "misleading by aggeration".
"It was considered the latter part of the statement to be misleading by implication and is encouraging excessive consumption of butter which may not be advisable from the health point of view," it said.
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