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In a complaint received against the advertisement of Maruti Suzuki – Estilo Magic, the advertisement mentions the mileage of i10 (1.1) Era as “16 kmpl”, which is incorrect. i10 (1.1) Era ARIA certified mileage is 19.8 kmpl. The CCC concluded that the data stated in the advertisement about the mileage of the competitor did not tally with the ARIA Certification and is false hence the TVC was UPHELD

There was a complaint relating to the advertisement of “Bata India – Think Weinbrenner, Think Outdoors.” As per the complaint, Bata was carrying out a print campaign for Weinbrenner, wherein the copy reads, “SMS Bata to 58888 to win exclusive gifts”. Acting on the line, twice, the Complainant was never offered or sent any gifts. The CCC concluded that the statement, “SMS BATA…to win exclusive gifts”, was misleading as the advertisement did not state clearly all material conditions to enable the consumer to obtain a true and fair view of his prospects in such activities.

There was a complaint received against advertising communication of Hindustan Unilever – Pureit Water Purifier. As per the complaint, the commercials make a claim of “Pureit 1 Crore safety challenge”. The CCC considered the technical proof provided by the Advertiser and the Complainant and concluded that whilst Pureit “meets USA’s EPA stringent germ-kill criteria”, it is not the only one to do so. The claim, “It’s been 2 years and till date no purifier in India has been able to meet Pureit’s Safety challenge”, is misleading as this challenge is only against old generation products launched prior to December 2009. Thus, the communication creates a false impression that Pureit is the best water purifier. This complaint was UPHELD.

In a complaint received against the advertisement of Triply Stainless Steel Cookware from Glen Appliances Pvt. Ltd., the print advertisement claims, “Is your cookware safe? Did you know aluminum cookware can cause cancer?” According to the complainant the claims are not truthful as it has not been substantiated by any reputed international organization such as WHO or by any country noted for a high standard of vigilance in consumer protection. The advertisement unfairly and directly denigrates attacks and discredits all aluminum cookware, and misleads the consumer about the safety of the same. The complaint was UPHELD.

In the education sector, there was a whole set of advertisement that received complaints. For T.I.M.E. – CAT’ 11/12, the claim “Largest student base: 1,30,000+ students trained for CAT’09 & CAT’10” was rejected as the claim was not validated by any third party nor the advertiser had compared any data of other service providers in the same category. Also, the Claim, “Best faculty team in Delhi – NCR”, is not supported by any comparative data. Another Claim, “Best Results: 50%+ of students in the IIMs are from T.I.M.E.”, is neither validated nor supported with any independent data, and the claim is based on 2009 and 2010 data as mentioned in the advertisement. The CCC concluded that pending the validation of the data by independent auditors, the claims are misleading and contravene Chapter I.4 of the Code and hence the complaint was UPHELD.

Career Launcher (I) Ltd in one advertisement mentioned that,“4300+ IIM calls in CAT”10”, “CL scores: 4/8 100 % in CAT’10, FMS’10 & 11 Toppers, JMET’10 Topper”. These claims were not backed up and substantiated with data/ evidence. The CCC concluded that pending the validation of the data by independent auditors, the claims mentioned in the advertisement and cited in the complaint are misleading. The complaint was UPHELD

The advertisement of Team Satyam claims that “75+ Students and counting, in National Law Schools”, “95% of call getters from Lucknow are Clat Possible students”, “5/5 NLU-Delhi call getters from Lucknow are Clat Possible students”, “3 NLSIU, 5 NALSAR, 7 NUJS, 8NLU-D Students to National Law Schools”, “40+ Students to National Law Schools”. The CCC concluded that pending the validation of the data by independent auditors, the claims mentioned in the advertisement and cited in the complaint, are misleading. The advertisement contravened Chapter I.4 of the Code. The complaint was UPHELD. In another Team Satyam complaint, the advertisement claims, “20 IIM & 4 XLRI call getters”. This claim was also not supported by any duly validated and substantiated data. The CCC concluded that pending the validation of the data by independent auditors, the claim is misleading. The advertisement contravened Chapter I.4 of the Code.

A TVC of Greenply Industries Ltd. Greenlam Laminates showed “an old man going through the Catholic sacrament of baptism, and thereafter his funeral which shows a coffin made with Greenlam Laminates. The TVC is extremely offensive and mocks the Roman Catholic faith, by unnecessarily using sacraments to promote its product. The CCC concluded that the TVC appears to trivialize conversion and thus is likely to hurt religious sentiments. This advertisement was UPHELD

In Indulekha Gold Hair Care Oil ad of Mosons Extractions the advertiser was asked to provide scientific evidence including clinical trials of the effectiveness of the product – Indulekha Gold Hair Care Oil, which it claims by implication. In the absence of comments from the Advertiser, the CCC concluded that the claims were not substantiated with technical data through clinical research. This advertisement was UPHELD

Hindustan Unilever Ltd‘s Dove Damage Therapy TVC claimed that Dove is the most recommended shampoo by Indian women”, is qualified by a super stating “Based on a study conducted amongst 400 women”. It was stated that a base size of 400 is far too small to be used to support this claim and it also does not clarify the parameters for which the Dove shampoo is recommended. Also, the supers in the said advertisement are blurred and illegible. The print advertisement, TVC, and the hoardings contravened Chapter I.4 of the Code and the claims are misleading, hence the complaint was UPHELD. In another ad of Dove Hair Fall Rescue shampoo, the TVC claims, “No Hair Fall No Damage”, is qualified by a super stating, “No hair breakage and split ends according to the `sampling based on lab test’ when regularly used Dove Shampoo”. This claim needs to be substantiated with independent technical data. The super does not state the source of the study and nor does it state the date on which the said study was conducted. The complaint was UPHELD.

Procter & Gamble Home Products Ltd‘s – New Ariel Oxyblu – Deep Clean Technology ad showed the removal of three difficult stains, namely ink, oil and tea by use of Ariel Oxyblu, whereas the claim support data mentioned in the super is for ink stains alone. The super reads “Creative visualization. Based on technical test by independent laboratory (Prema Labs, 2011) tested on ink stain in three different layers of polyster fabric v/s ordinary powder. It is clear from the same that the claims about removal of oil and tea stains are completely unsubstantiated. The CCC concluded that the claim read in conjunction with the visual depiction is misleading by implication. The complaint was UPHELD.

Lavanya Ayurvedic Hospital & Research Center – Cures the Incurable, in its print ad stated that “Cancer can be treated without radiation or chemotherapy.” Such a claim is misleading and can jeopardize the lives of many people who may opt for this treatment. Without the backing of any scientific data and due to the absence of comments from the Advertiser, the CCC UPHELD the complaint against this advertisement.

Pernod Ricard India Pvt Ltd, in its TVC of Royal Stag – Mega Cricket showed the visuals of the cricketer Harbhajan Singh on his first day in a ball bearing factory. He is shown saying, “Have I made it large?” As per the complaint, the TVC begins with the repeated use of the word “large”, which is normally referred to as a measure of liquor and by associating it with Royal Stag, which is a liquor brand, the TVC is an overt insinuation aimed at conjuring up the image of a liquor brand and therefore the TVCis an indirect and surrogate advertisement for liquor. Despite having approvals from CBFC for using the slogan, the CCC concluded that the TVC uses the brand name and logo of a liquor product. The advertisement contravened Chapter III.6 (c) (d) of the ASCI Code. Also, as the TVC violated the Rule 7(2) (viii) (A) of The Cable Television Network Rules 1994, the TVC is in breach of the law and contravened Chapter III.4 of the ASCI Code. The complaint was UPHELD.

As per McDowell’s No.1 Platinum Soda advertisement which begins with the visuals of a Sikh boy resembling cricketer Harbhajan Singh shown sitting on a large ball and saying, “Have I made it large”. Then they show the arrival of his father and upbraiding him for making a large ball of bomb instead of ball bearings. This is followed by cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s dialogue, which goes on to say, “Zindagi mein kuchh karna hai to large chhodo. Kuchh alag karo, yaar. McDowell’s No.1 Platinum Soda. No.1 Spirit of Leadership”. The TVC is a clever ploy of capitalizing on the image of a liquor brand sought to be created in the TVC of “Royal Stag – Mega Cricket”, and then extrapolating it with another liquor brand “McDowell”. The use of the word “Spirit” in its tag line further enhances the image of the liquor brand and therefore the TVC is an indirect and surrogate advertisement for liquor. The Ad violates Rule 7(2)(viii)(A) of The Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994. The CCC concluded that the TVC uses a phrase pertaining to a liquor product. The advertisement contravened Chapter III.6 (c) of the ASCI Code. Also, as the TVC violated the Rule 7(2) (viii) (A) of The Cable Television Network Rules 1994, the TVC is in breach of the law and contravened Chapter III.4 of the ASCI Code. The complaint was UPHELD.

One of the Ford Figo advertisements stated that the “Ford Figo leaves its competition far behind”, and has made comparison of Figo Advantage with Hyundai i10 in terms of Space and Maintenance. The facts used in the advertisement are based on Ford’s internal Benchmarking study, and have no independent support. The advertisement is misleading the consumers. In the absence of comments from the Advertiser, the CCC concluded that the claims made in the advertisement were not substantiated on the basis of an independent survey, and were misleading. The complaint was UPHELD.

General Motors India Pvt. Ltd.’s TVC of Chevrolet Beat Diesel adopted the tagline of “India’s most fuel efficient car”, and have, with a view to mislead the consumers tried to justify the same by relying upon a stray comment in an article published in `Autocar India’ of August 2011 issue, whereby the magazine by its own non-standard method tried to give a general sense to consumers of city driving fuel efficiency of the `Beat Diesel’. The Beat Diesel advertisement uses the tagline which is same as that used by “Indica eV2” in their advertisement of being “India’s most fuel efficient car”. This fuel efficiency claim is backed by ARAI who have certified `Indica eV2”. Apart from plagiarism, the advertisement is disparaging the `Indica eV2’. The CCC concluded that the claim was not backed by the data of ARAI. This part of the complaint was UPHELD.

Titan Industries Ltd’s Fast Track Watches advertisement showed a young woman taking off her innerwear (bra) from underneath her T-shirt and holding it out as if to discard it. The advertisement is promoting a new offer of 20% off on watches. The advertisement is offensive to women, damaging young minds, and totally unrelated to the subject of the advertisement. The advertisement shows a derogatory portrayal of a woman. The depiction of a simple message with such lewd, indecent and obscene way is objectionable. The CCC concluded that the depiction of the young woman is likely, in the light of generally prevailing standards of decency and propriety, to cause grave or widespread offence and hence the complaint against this advertisement was UPHELD

During these two months, the CCC received complaints against Samsung ACs, Royal Hygiene Care Pvt Ltd’s She Comfort, Hindustan Unilever’s Pureit Marvella eWater Purifier, IMS Learning Resources Pvt Ltd, Hardcastle Restaurant’s McDonald’s, L’Oreal India’s Garneir Fructis, Hindustan Unilver’s Clinic All Clear and Tata Indicom amongst others as these advertisements did not contravene ASCI’s codes or guidelines.

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And yes with 28 years of experience behind him, only he can be termed as the torchbearer of the industry. Anand Halve, co-founder of Chlorophyll, the brand & communications consultancy firm, in his long career has seen the growth and evolution of advertising.

He has worked with some of the greats in Indian advertising, and has an intimate understanding about how brands function.

Halve is well known for his strategic acumen and creative work with many blue chip brands, which includes names such as Lakme, Blue Dart, Dabur, Britannia, Hero Motors, Titan, Standard Chartered and National Egg Coordination Committee (wrote the line “Sunday ho ya Monday, roz khao anday” ) to name a few.

Adgully asks him about his journey, how the face of advertisement has changed from its early days to present day and what inspired you to start Chlorophyll? Excerpts from an exclusive interview:

Adgully: So tell us how did you make your entry into advertising world?

Anand Halve: My interest in advertising grew during my IIMA days. One of my professors Labdhi Bhandari was working with Clarion advertising. An interaction with them led to the whole advertising thing. From that day onwards I was convinced that working with an advertising field would be exciting.

I had quit medicine because I found it uninteresting. So I wanted to take up something, wherein I will enjoy myself. That’s how I started with Lintas and worked there and at Enterprise for long stints.

Besides that I have also worked with Alyque Padamsee, who can be termed as the pioneer of TV advertising in India. That’s how I started my long and enjoyable journey.

AG: Back there at IIMA, what kind of career objective did you have?

AH: I enrolled myself into IIM-A largely to escape from medicine. Like I said, I wanted to do something interesting, so I took up management. By the time I completed the programme at IIM-A, the choice was between marketing and advertising.

I was short-listed by Hindustan Lever, but Lintas made the job offer on campus itself, and that’s how my life in advertising began.

And despite all the work pressures and stress, I realized that it still offered a lot of excitement, something that I was looking for from my job.

It’s important to find enthusiasm in what you do.

AG: You have been in the industry for quite sometime now. How has the industry changed over the years?

AH: Well I feel that the industry is still caught up in the luxury of times when advertising did not have to perform.

Back in 70s, India was still coming to terms with global economy. People needed personalized communication, to get the product. I remember an interview of Rahul Bajaj, wherein he had said, ‘I don’t need a marketing department I need a dispatch department.’ Because at that time if anyone booked a Bajaj scooter he had to wait at least for three years to get the scooter. So at that time advertising was a luxury and indulgence, which did not have to deliver the result.

What did the Bajaj scooter advertising do? It needed to do nothing, there was a queue waiting out of Bajaj factory.

Switch to year 2010, for every little things, you go the malls, where you have 50 brands of readymade garments, 100 brands of restaurant, somebody is offering you smoothies, and somebody is offering you sandwiches.

For example, you can’t say “Jago re” is a lovely idea and go buy a Taj Mahal tea. “Jago re” has value only if people go and buy Tata tea.

I really want to ask them that what is the market share before the activity and after the activity?

They have moved their campaign from election to corruption but then are people going and buying the product?

AG: So where does advertising these days suffer?

AH: Sometime back I had written to Idea “What an idea sirji”.

But my point says that can Idea say that they will not use paper anymore. There is another part, where advertising really suffers. People win award for public service advertising because it is clever and it has nothing to deal with.

For example, you can make a clever poster of a blind child who has achieved nothing. You can pay a celebrity, who would encourage people to donate their eyes. Then you would run a campaign and say that right now India needs X number of corneas. Before this campaign we got N numbers of cornea and after this we have got 20 times X number of cornea.
You see at the end it has to deliver the results.
First advertising has to deliver business results, but the competitive nature of the marketing universe. The second is this a fascination with creativity which masks the truth of why you exists and the third is that advertising can play its role which is far beyond its mandate like public service.

Advertising does not change the world, action changes the world. And there is a gap unfortunately between this dreamland advertising and a ground reality.

AG: These days you have Colleges that offer advertising as course. How much of it is helpful?

AH: People from advertising cannot be taught. People cannot teach you. You learn from your experiences. If teaching would help you understand things better, then there would be no one with bad habits.

A great example is Mahatma Gandhi – a man who practiced whatever he preached. In contrast look at the politicians, who come out of their exquisite houses and say ‘hum garibon ke saath hein’. Are they really interested in how the poor guys live?

AG: What inspired you to start Chlorophyll?

AH: The huge disillusionment with the way that something, which is designed to human scale, has now been converted into a manufacture model.

You can make 2000 hand crafted Bentleys for the year, you cant make 10 million Bentleys. Because when you make 10 million then you make a Toyota, Toyota will be good at price but nobody will say Toyota is an attractive piece. It can’t stir your soul.

Even If you are a film maker, then now a days you don’t get a quality work look at Sidney Sheldon or Mills and Boons, it’s a factory the plot is always known instead of hospital the girl is working in architect firm or an advertising firm, the long fingers in the steering wheel.

Now the needs of advertisements are far larger then in 90s because of the rising options of products in the market.

That’s what inspired us to start Chlorophyll.

AG: So what would be your advice to young entrepreneurs?

AH: Entrepreneurs do not need any advice and if they need advice then they are not entrepreneurs.

I remember a sentence from fountain head, when Peter Keating asks Howard Roark that ‘How do you always know what do you want’ then Howard replies, ‘How you can stand not knowing what you want.’

If anybody asks me what career I should pursue, then I would advice to them to jump from the roof top or hurling yourself down from sea link.

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Hailing from India’s steel city Jamshedpur, where everyone wanted to be an enginner, Thakur, on the other hand wanted to become a writer. Eventually he ended up studying economics from Hindu College, Delhi University.

After that he went to IIM, Lucknow and started his job first in Coca Cola India limited as a management trainee. Thakur then joined Hindustan Lever in November 2001 as a senior brand manager for Kwality Walls in Banglaore. In Hindustan Lever, he did some successful campaigns like “ek din ka raja”, which brought him into the limelight.

However it was his work at UTV, which caught the eye of everyone and made him a force to reckon with. Thakur knew Ronnie Screwvala, the CEO and Founder Chairman of ‘UTV Group’, who wanted Thakur to take charge of the Production.

Thus came first chance to glow in the limelight as UTV then, one air-time show at that time. Thakur launched 3-4 successful shows on air within a year. Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena on Colors, three shows with Zee, the last one being Dance India Dance, have doing well in the small screen industry.

Besides this he has also produced content for National Geographic and Doordarshan.

With a string of successful shows, it was just a matter of time that his talent was noticed and he was soon approached by Sony and was offered executive vice president and business head of Sony Entertainment Television post. Since then he has come a long way.

Since then Sony too has grown leaps and bounds with shows like CID, Aahat, Comedy Circus, and Indian Idol. And with KBC due soon, Thakur expects the TRPs to soar higher than before.

“We have grown in a year’s time. The TRP have doubled if not more and we have programmes, which are weekly, weekends special and prime-time views,” explains Thakur in an exclusive interaction with Adgully.

“As far as growth is concerned, I think the reason why we have done so well is because of long term strategic thinking, which we are doing – a perfect example would be the KBC, which we have been planning for almost 10 months and finally it has been announced,” he adds.

“Then we resumed Indian idol at the back of IPL. We have also being doing day to day thinking, wherein new innovations and changes have been done to meet the demands.

“For example, people expected Indian idol at weekends. But we were there on a daily basis and have done with Yashraj. So basically we have done quick thinking on this feat which has made us to grow and still we are growing,” he explains.

Besides thinking out of the box, Thakur feels that consumer feedback is very essential, if one has to grow. “Today the audiences are evolving fast so the landscape is changing. Today there is someone at the top, tomorrow there is someone else. That’s why we have also involved audience data, asking them what next would do you like to see on television. We have a lot of interaction and take a feedback,” he says.

Thakur feels since the audience too have grown big after the cable television boom, there is a greater need to collect audience data if one has to succeed in here. Known for their reality shows, Thakur feels Sony is not all about just reality shows. “We have been pioneers in terms of programming and it’s not only reality shows. We have CID, which is a cop thriller and it’s been for more than 12 years. Aahat, which is a horror show and has been there for last 15 years, so we have done successfully besides just the reality shows,” he says.

“Then we have the likes of Indian Idol, Big Boss, Jhalak Dikhla Ja, Entertainment Ke Liye Saala Kuch Bhi Karega, with Anu Malik and Farah Khan, which have done well as reality shows. Dus ka Dum, hosted by Salamaan Khan too is entering its new season, but i can’t talk much about it right now,” he adds.

Thakur believes that not only the production quality too has improved over the years but also the script.

“We not only have good production quality but also we have best team of writers and fresh casting. High definition technology is used. We are creating a next generation content in the country. “Mahive” has kind of got huge success with 150 thousands of fans following on net. This is a next level of content and it’s just a start,” he says.

“In international markets, we have a lot of demand for these serials. In fact they show it in sub-titles — they are selling like hot cakes. It was a test for us with this type of concept. The YRF shows were suppose to be seasonal but now we would be starting with one show and then after every couple of months we will be re- launching it. I’m sure they will break the clutter and it will bring more ratings and more audiences,” he adds.

Thakur hopes in the coming months, Sony breaks all the TRP rating, but he insists that content will not be compromised. “Being in an entertainment business we have certain kind of powers. So I think if we can use those force to entrainment people and with that education, enrichment or just inspire people then I believe we have done a good job.

“We are not concerned for ratings but we want to make more meaningful content in which we have a “seekh” in it. Whether its Indian idol as a platform or crime petrol which is busting of crime.

With KBC or Dus ka Dum, we hope that the show will only take us to be next level. But we are not in here to target a position, we are just targeting the growth and we should keep growing faster than others,” he explains.
And to attain the numero uno position, Sony plans to make content, which appeal to smaller markets and that would be their new strategy.

“We are making shows which are of content appealing to the smaller markets as much as to the bigger markets. We have just launched program in four states were we are going door to door asking the house wife’s to watch our new program which has social messages .
“I wish there would be more television shows which the whole family would watch,” he adds.

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Prior to this, Shermann was the management supervisor – account management for Ogilvy & Mather.

Shermann has over 13 years of experience in the advertising industry. He has worked with companies such as Barclays Bank, Axis Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Tata Indicom, AXN, Airtel, HBO, Hindustan Lever and Star Plus.

Shermann started his career with Primesite Outdoor advertising in 1999 and moved on to The Media Network in 2001.

He worked with Madison Outdoor Media Services and later, in 2002 moved to Portland India Outdoor advertising as group account director.