The Advertisement Standards Council of India (ASCI) on Monday announced to introduce guidelines for usage of claims of awards and rankings by the companies in their respective advertisements.
Now, brands and services need to ensure that the accrediting bodies involved in disseminating or presenting awards or rankings are authentic and credible, while validating their claims in advertisements.
The new guidelines, which would be effective from February 1, 2020, aim to curb the “superiority claims” in advertising for the products and services based on awards and rankings received, which “sometimes misled into believing” by the consumers, the ASCI said in a statement.
It has become increasingly common for advertisers to make superiority claims in advertising for their products and services based on awards and rankings received. Consumers are sometimes misled into believing that an award or ranking which is given to a brand, product, institute or service makes it superior and /or more authentic.
“Awards, Rankings should not be used as an alternative for consumer or scientific research or testing which is required to substantiate a superiority claim about the effective use or performance of products or services,” the new guidelines said.
