CELEBRITY ADVERTISING AND ITS LIABILITY: HOW FAR IS
IT CHECKED?
Advertising is a form
of marketing communication used to promote or sell something, usually a
business's product or service. In 2015, the
world spent an estimate of US$592.43 billion on advertising (CARAT, 2015). There
are different types of mass media such as newspaper, magazines, television
advertisement, radio advertisement, outdoor advertising or direct mail; or new
media such as blogs, websites or text messages which displays advertisements. Commercial advertisements seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through "branding," which associates a product name
or image with certain qualities in the minds of consumers. Celebrity
advertising is one of the forms of commercial advertisements which influence
large number of consumers.
Celebrity
Advertising is using a famous person's image to sell products or services by
focusing on the person's money, popularity, or fame to promote the products or
services. If the famous person agrees to allow his or her image to be used, it
is termed a celebrity endorsement. The promotion might be through formal
advertisements in different media, or it might occur through the famous person
displaying the products by using them or wearing them. The consumers are
influenced by these or listening to these advertisements and try to buy the
products endorsed by them.
In a
country like India, where celebrities are treated like idols by many people,
celebrity advertising is playing a major role in impacting consumer minds and
buying that endorsed product though they do not require it. With this the
manufacturers are making lots of cash by following the malpractices like
misleading advertisements, charging high price for the products endorsed by the
celebrities, making false statements about the product etc.
The
celebrities are also not taking the responsibility or initiative to stop
participating in endorsing advertisements. Though some products are harmful to
consumers, the celebrities are endorsing them. And it can be understood that celebrities
endorsing the product hardly knows anything about it. There are many products
which include food items, beverages, jewellery, clothing, footwear, detergents,
electronic gadgets, interior products, websites and many more which are
endorsed by celebrities now-a-days. Some of the examples of products which are
endorsed by the celebrities are Kalyan Jewellery products by Amitabh Bacchan,
Boost by Dhoni and Sachin, Maagi Noodles by Madhuri Dixit etc.
Endorsements
are a lucrative line of income for celebrities, given how nearly every second
brand uses a famous face to induce people to buy it. According to a 2013 paper
authored by IIM-A faculty, the celebrity endorsement business was worth around
Rs 1,000 crore in 2010.
Shah Rukh Khan, the most prolific brand
ambassador, earned a cool Rs 202 crore last year (as per the 2014 Forbes
celebrity list) from endorsing as many as 22 brands. Dixit-Nene, earns much
less. Marketers say, she charges around Rs 50 lakh per day of shoot. Amitabh
Bachchan demands anywhere from Rs 2-3 crore, they say, which is also how much
star cricketers like Virat Kohli can expect to get paid. The amount they earn
can be a personal issue but they have to take some social responsibility to
study about a product before endorsing it and they should also not endorse the
product if it is found not to be safe for the consumers.
In
recent times, there were lot of controversies that Maagi noodles is containing
harmful chemicals like high amount of monosodium glutamate (MSG) and lead and
hence its sale has been stopped. But the famous celebrity Madhuri Dixit claims
that it is nutritious and consumers tend to believe her. The debate surrounding
Maggi noodles has raised several questions relating to the hygiene of the food
we eat but we also need to look at the ethics of advertisement and the role of
brand ambassadors. The entire length of issues calls for an objective
examination, not only from legalistic angle but from socio-ethical angle as
well.
The
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), established under the
Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, is instructed to ensure that the
food people consume is safe and nutritious and for that it has to lay down some
scientific evidences and standards for articles of food and regulate
manufacturing, processing, distribution, sale and import of food. In the
prevailing scenario of Maagi Noodles controversy, with the adulteration being
the mandate of the day, it is difficult to guarantee for the purity of any food
article.
There
is no contradiction to the fact that lies are being sold; most of the
advertisements are misleading and film stars and sportspersons leave credibility
by endorsing the products. There are recent arguments by the educators and
consumer organisations to legally take action on the celebrities endorsing
products in wrong means. Ashim Sanyal of Voice, a consumer activism body and a
member of the Central Consumer Protection Council, says the proposed amendments
to the Consumer Protection Act, currently with the inter-ministerial committee
and due to be introduced in the next parliamentary session, have specific
provisions to hold celebrities liable for misleading advertisements.
There are some cases in recent times where the celebrities
were issued legal notices with regard to their misleading advertisements. For
example, the Uttar Pradesh Food and Drug Administration’s decided to recall
packets of Maggi Noodles in 2015. Madhuri Dixit, who endorses Maggi’s brand of
‘nutritious’ oats noodles, was in trouble. An FIR was filed against Genelia
D’Souza for allegedly making false promises through advertisments and brochures
for a real estate company in 2012. The Home Trade scam of 2002 had the
celebrity endorsement of three big celebrities, Sachin Tendulkar, Hrithik
Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan. Having created not a single product, the company
made away with thousands of crore rupees of investor money, and
celebrity-endorsed brand building was a crucial part of their operation. Several
insurance advertisements alleged to have been making misleading claims in the
past, and several insurance brands have celebrities like Irrfan Khan and
Amitabh Bachchan endorse them.
It is not just the world of high-flying celebrities endorsing
mega-brands. Activists have also been speaking out against advertisments for
sauna-belts, medicines, Hanuman-chalisa yantra and gem-stones on TV screens.
In a bid to make celebrity endorsers accountable for
misleading advertisements and endorsements, a parliamentary committee in 2015
has recommended a maximum punishment for five years' jail and Rs 50 lakh fine.
If the proposed recommendations are incorporated in the consumer protection
bill, brand ambassadors will have to be more careful when signing a contract
with private players. With this provision, the consumer may soon be able to claim
compensation not only from the advertisers, but from the celebrities endorsing
the product.
In February 2015, The Central
Consumer Protection Council (CCPC), under the chairmanship of minister K V
Thomas, decided to set up a sub-committee to suggest strategies to deal with
such advertisers. Among the concerns raised was marketing of products by
celebrities. The committee has recommended a maximum punishment for five years'
jail and Rs 50 lakh fine. If the proposed recommendations are incorporated in
the consumer protection bill, brand ambassadors will have to be more careful
when signing a contract with private players. With this provision, the consumer
may soon be able to claim compensation not only from the advertisers, but from
the celebrities endorsing the product.
The rationale behind this decision
of the CPCC was that celebrities had considerable influence over consumer
choice, and that there must me some form of liability for the endorsements
being made. As Devika Agarwal points out in this post, 50% of advertisements in
India are celebrity endorsements. For a country which reveres and adores its
film stars and popular personalities, celebrity endorsements could entirely
change the consumer’s likes and dislikes.
At the beginning, a notice to film
stars for faulty products might look like a big joke as they can easily bribe
or pay the fine and get out of the issue. But misrepresentation of products,
especially in the food sector, is a serious issue, and not as silly as many
would like to believe. Hence strict enforcements have to be laid with regard to
this issue and the government should see that no one who does false and illegal
claims in advertising products do not escape from the legal penalties.
References
Endorsers face
jail for misleading ads. Times of India. New Delhi. Apr 13, 2016. Link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Endorsers-face-jail-for-misleading-ads/articleshow/51803297.cms
Celebrity endorsement
liability is no laughing matter, requires serious thought. The News Minute.
Saturday, May 30, 2015. Link: http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/celebrity-endorsement-liability-no-laughing-matter-requires-serious-thought
·
Dipak Kumar Dash.
Celebrities endorsing products also liable for misleading advertisements: Panel.
Times of India. New Delhi. Feb 4, 2014.
Link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Celebrities-endorsing-products-also-liable-for-misleading-advertisements-Panel/articleshow/29834388.cms
·
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising
By:
M. Milcah Paul, Research Scholar, Dept. of RMCS, College of Home Science, Saifabad, Hyderabad
Dr. D. Ratna Kumari, Professor, Dept. of RMCS, College of Home Science, Saifabad, Hyderabad
b
By:
M. Milcah Paul, Research Scholar, Dept. of RMCS, College of Home Science, Saifabad, Hyderabad
Dr. D. Ratna Kumari, Professor, Dept. of RMCS, College of Home Science, Saifabad, Hyderabad
b
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