The Hindu Business Line : Broadcasting federation looks to resolve surrogate ads issue

New Delhi, April 29 The Indian Broadcasting Federation (IBF) will be writing to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the hope of an early resolution to the ban on ‘surrogate’ advertising.

The dismissal of a public interest litigation petition by the Supreme Court on Monday, which objected to the UB’s Group IPL team being named Royal Challengers, has given broadcasters some hope.

The recent Government notification, they believe, also bans advertising of legitimate brand extensions: sodas or even soaps sold under the same brand name as that of alcohol and tobacco but that which generate decent business for themselves. “The IBF will write to the Ministry citing the particular case, and are hoping for an early resolution to the issue,” said Mr Jawahar Goel, President, IBF.

The Chief Justice, Mr K.G. Balakrishnan, who headed the three-judge Bench, reportedly told the counsel of the petitioner: “Liquor is not prohibited in this country”, dismissing the argument that the UB Group was indirectly promoting its whisky Royal Challenge.

“In a generic sense it is reassuring, but advertisers and broadcasters can’t rest easy on that. The fact of the matter is that the notification is very much in place,” said Mr Paritosh Joshi of Star India, who is also a member on the Consumer Complaints Council of the Advertising Standards Council of India.

Despite the notification, broadcasters have continued to air advertisements cleared by the Central Bureau of Film Certification, as per earlier norms.

The I&B Ministry, which has promised broadcasters to discuss the issue with the Health Ministry again, hasn’t objected as yet.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, on whose urging the I&B Ministry is believed to have introduced the ban, called on the media to help fight the growing problem of alcohol abuse.

“Advertising of alcoholic beverages is prohibited but we see that the manufacturers take the help of surrogate advertisements to advertise such products. This is one area where the media can play a very crucial role through some kind of self-regulatory mechanism. Though it may cause some revenue loss to the media, the gains to the society would be manifold,” said Dr Ramadoss releasing the Alchohol Atlas of India, prepared by the Indian Alcohol Policy Alliance.

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