Patanjali, Amazon, Airtel among 51 pulled up for misleading ads

The Advertising Standards Council of India in October upheld complaints against 51 campaigns for misleading advertisements, including those of Novartis, Colgate-Palmolive, Amazon, yoga guru Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, Reliance Communications, and Bharti Airtel.

The Customer Complaints Council (CCC) ASCI upheld 16 complaints of misleading advertisements from the personal and healthcare category, five in telecom and broadband category and 19 in education category.

ASCI upheld complaints against Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd for its product Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief Enamel Repair.

''It was concluded that the advertisement's claim in the voice over of enamel repair as well as the visual representation which indicates that the tooth enamel is restored to its original condition or is re-built, was not substantiated,'' it added.

Novartis was rapped by the advertising watchdog for its popular product Otrivin.

''Otrivin is an OTC product containing Xylometazoline which could cause Atrophic Rhinitis if not used as directed.

''Aggressive advertising without providing information about the caution to be exercised can promote indiscriminate use of the product among the general public. It was concluded that in the absence of a disclaimer, the TVC shows an unsafe practice without justifiable reason and encourages negligence,'' ASCI said.

ASCI also upheld complaints against Patanjali Ayurved Ltd for its product Patanjali Kesh Kanti and Dant Kanti for making claims of ''World's No.1 Ayurvedic Brand and 100 per cent charity from profits, which were not substantiated.''

Bharti Airtel was pulled up for advertisements for its 4G network.

''In the absence of appropriate disclaimers, the claims made in the advertisements that 'Airtel 4G is the fastest network ever' and 'If your network is faster, we will pay your mobile bills for life', are misleading by omission.''