Several advertisements featuring celebrities like cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Bollywood star Ajay Devgan, actress Shilpa Shetty have been found to making misleading and false claims.

Bollywood star Ajay Devgn’s ad for Dabur Babool Ayurvedic Paste and Hindustan Unilever’s (HUL) campaign for Rexona Whitening were among the marketing efforts found as “misleading”. Similarly, cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s ad for Orient Electric found misleading by Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).

According to ASCI, the Dabur campaign on television and Youtube had a message in Hindi which alleges that ordinary white toothpastes are cheating consumers and the cheating will stop by using its toothpaste.  “The advertisement featuring celebrity Ajay Devgan was considered misleading. The advertisement also denigrated the entire category of “calcium containing white” toothpastes while implying superiority of their ayurvedic toothpaste,” it said.

 In the case of HUL, an ad for Rexona Whitening Roll-On in Bengali claimed the product can help get rid of dark underarms in five days was “ inadequately substantiated and misleading”, the ASCI statement said.  Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare campaign for ‘Moov Advance Diclofenac Gel’ with claims of being ‘#1 Doctor recommended active for acute pain relief’ was also considered misleading, it said.

Orient Electric’s advertisement having  legendary cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni was found to be “misleading by implication”.  “It was observed that while the advertisement claims to have ‘flicker control technology’, it visually depicts ‘no flicker’ or absence of any flicker,” ASCI said on Orient ad. The advertisement’s claim “Livfast Inverter and batteries have 25% faster charging and provides 25% extra backup” featuring cricketer Dhoni was also inadequately substantiated.

Taking a strong note of misleading advertisements on Television, Print, Youtube and other social media plateforms, the ASCI  has probed complaints against 408 and upheld complaints against 248 while 137 were promptly withdrawn by the advertisers.

A television ad shows a policeman riding the Platina with a barber riding pillion and shaving the policeman. The entire act was put up to showcase the ride comfort of the vehicle with the narrative of a ‘Makhkhan Jaisi Ride’ concept. “It was observed that the protagonist - a policeman in uniform who himself should be abiding by traffic rules, shown performing such stunts was inappropriate. The TVC shows dangerous practices, stunts in normal traffic conditions which manifests a disregard for safety,” it said.

A complaint against a drama serial promo indicating the protagonist doing self-harm by stifling her neck with a cloth (duppata) was also upheld. “The drama serial’s promo contains a specific visual of the female protagonist stifling her neck with a cloth (duppata) and then turning her body in upside down position. Such visuals shows a dangerous act (indicative of self-harm) with a disregard for safety and it is likely to encourage minors to emulate such an act which could cause harm or injury,” ASCI added. VLCC Health Care’s print and television ad claim ‘Add figure to your shape in just one session’ was not substantiated with treatment efficacy data, it said.