29% of complaints filed concerned influencers, reveals ASCIâ€™s report for 2021-22

The Annual Complaints Report FY 21-'22, which the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) published earlier this month, provided information on the complaints examined and advertisements handled by the self-regulatory organisation. The significance of the digital ecosystem was reflected in the fact that 48 percent of the ads that ASCI processed were published digitally, 29% of the complaints that were filed concerned influencers, and the top six violative categories showed the emergence of sectors like gaming and cryptocurrency.

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ASCI now provides a more detailed report card of the top six violative categories - Education, Healthcare, Personal Care, Virtual Digital Assets, Gaming, and Food & Beverage. The report also delves into the specifics of the advertisements examined, the types of complaints, the results of the ads processed, and the involvement of influencers and celebrities in each sector.

ASCI has looked into 383 Ads's volation complaints in Gaming Category

Most violative claims in the Gaming sector were pertaining to leadership, guaranteed winnings, prize money assurance and safety, security & privacy claims. Other claims like consumer trust - trusted by 3 billion users etc., and comparative claims like win better, Xtimes more winnings were also seen.

Key Points:

As compare to 2020-21 year, the case of violation has been increased by 472%
In which 94% of them required modification
most of them have been appeared on Digital plateform, in terms of other traditional plateforms
8 misleading ads features celebrities
22 ads reported disclousre of violation in which influencers were featured

ASCI has looked into 394 Ads's volation complaints in VDA Category

Most advertisements looked into under this sector were influencer disclosure cases where influencers were talking about how to navigate the VDA platforms, or sharing information about the category and how the platform is easy to operate. From some of the ads that made misleading claims, leadership & consumer trust claims were most common. Guaranteed earnings, performance comparisons with other mode of investments like Gold and stock investment followed. The other commonly found claims revolved around promoting the category through referral program claims like refer a friend and win.

Key Points:

Advertising by this category was not so prominent in the previous years.
In which 95% of them required modification
98% of them has been appeared on Digital plateform, in terms of other traditional plateforms
No misleading ads features celebrities
385 ads reported disclousre of violation in which influencers were featured

ASCI has looked into 775 Ads's volation complaints in Healthcare Category

Most violative claims in the Healthcare category revolved around leadership, awards & rankings and comparative claims specifically under Clinics & Hospitals. Treatment assurance claims were also fairly common. For Drugs and Medicinal products claims of cure - prevention - protection were the most common. Health condition reversal and product performance claims were among the other violative claims noted. There has been a rise in the occurrence of natural ingredient/procedure led treatment/cure claims.

Key points:

As compare to 2020-21 year, the case of violation has been decreased by 20%
In which 98% of them required modification
98% of them has been appeared on Digital plateform, in terms of other traditional plateforms
5 misleading ads features celebrities
15 ads reported disclousre of violation in which influencers were featured

ASCI has looked into 531 Ads's volation complaints in Personal care Category

There were various claims made in the advertisements looked into under this category. Most of the violative claims were pertaining to product performance. Owing the the ongoing pandemic we saw a number of protection and prevention claims particularly claiming protection from germs like viruses and bacteria. Besides these there were comparative claims, Ingredient performance led claims, natural & organic product claims, leadership claims, consumer trust and recommendation by experts claims.

Key Points:

As compare to 2020-21 year, the case of violation has been increased by 261%
In which 91% of them required modification
88% of them has been appeared on Digital plateform, in terms of other traditional plateforms
4 misleading ads features celebrities
371 ads reported disclousre of violation in which influencers were featured

ASCI has looked into 373 Ads's volation complaints in Food and Beverage Category

Almost every product sub-category under F&B had immunity boosting claims along with ingredient benefit and product performance claims. Comparative claims, leadership claims, health & disease risk reduction claims were also common. Like many other categories there was an increase in claims pertaining to protection from & prevention of various diseases caused by viruses & bacteria. Other claims included awards & rankings, natural source/organic foods, consumer trust and quality claims.

Key Points:

As compare to 2020-21 year, the case of violation has been increased by 373%
In which 84% of them required modification
73% of them has been appeared on Digital plateform, in terms of other traditional plateforms
10 misleading ads features celebrities
131 ads reported disclousre of violation in which influencers were featured

ASCI has looked into 1728 Ads's volation complaints in Education Category

Most of the violative claims under the Education sector were pertaining to Leadership, Awards & Rankings and Job Guarantee claims. Comparative superlative claims like highest success, lowest fees etc. and performance outcome claims like best results, success assured were also common. In addition to these there were a significant number of Money Back Guarantee claims usually clubbed with result oriented/outcome related claims.

Key Points:

As compare to 2020-21 year, the case of violation has been Increased by 23%
In which 99% of them required modification
90% of them has been appeared in Print Media, in terms of other plateforms
9 misleading ads features celebrities
12 ads reported disclousre of violation in which influencers were featured

These are excerpts. For the complete ASCI’s Sector Report Cards 2021-22 , please read below:

https://ascionline.in/images/pdf/sector-report-cards-2021-22.pdf