Surrogate Advertising: How justified?

Do you remember the ad in which a very well dressed and hurried office executive doesn’t bother to stop the lift on an elderly couple’s far-cry and then doesn’t even de-board at destination because he sees a beautiful young lady entering? A nice Ghazal plays in the background (good one indeed as some people are desperately searching for a full version online) while the executive fellow admires her beauty and tries to strike a conversation before the lift goes back to where it began--elderly couple still waiting. The executive is apparently embarrassed. “Men will be men”, the ad sums up and ends after showing Seagram’s Imperial Blue Superhits Music CD logo with the announcement. I searched for the music CD online and found that there are two volumes of dance mixes collection compiled as “Seagram's Imperial Blue Superhits” that came out under record label of Sony Music. Needless to mention that the music CD thing is just a gimmick to dodge the legal tangles.

Hashtag “#adswedonotbuy” went viral on twitter in the month of March and numerous people openly participated in the Ads bashing because they were sick and tired of the ones that basically intended to fool people so that they bought their products in return. The campaign was started by Shekhar Kapoor that very interestingly criticized and thrashed bizarre ads and decisions like Rivital’s move to drop Yuvraj Singh while he was fighting his battle with cancer, racist fairness cream ads, hilarious Happydent ad that promises you tooth that can outshine even Sun, cheap and vulgur Deo ads etc. For this particular piece, I want to bring your attention to the way items like liquor, cigarettes and other tobacco products are advertised despite them being banned officially. As per the 2008 amendment to the Cable Television Networks Rules (CTNR), 1994, through a gazette notification, "no advertisement shall be permitted which promotes directly or indirectly production, sale or consumption of cigarettes, tobacco products, wine, alcohol, liquor or other intoxicants." (Source: The Hindu, Tuesday, Mar 18, 2008)

The impact of the above ban however has been of little significance and the ads of these products are being continuously aired unscathed in the form of music CDs, sodas, mineral water etc. Some of the brands you may associate with these campaigns are Royal Challenge music CDs, Seagram’s Imperial Blue Superhits, Mcdowell’s Soda etc. Royal Challengers Music CDs happen to be one of the main sponsors of IPL. I am yet to understand the legality of such an entity and yet it is not so difficult to understand the role of these “music CDs”. Apparently, the motive behind these ads and campaigns is to subtly advertise the liquor brands from the same companies. And this kind of advertising has officially been given the name of “Surrogate Advertising”. We may term it as indirect advertising. Whatever it is--the question is how justified is it? It appears to me as a major caveat for things to expect in future. Moral and ethical considerations have already taken a back seat and the companies are devising ways and means to defy the existing laws that are there to protect our own breed.

Let’s leave aside the morality aspect for a while. Even more serious concern is that these are the substances that pose severe health and security hazards which cannot be ignored. The future of millions of youngsters is at stake worldwide. Aren’t we familiar we the below mentioned dangers (Source: The Hindu health section article, “Say No”, February 15, 2012, please do read for some startling facts and figures):

• Even moderate drinking and small dosages of alcohol consumption can be harmful and can increase the risk of coronary heart disease by 60 per cent. Accidental deaths due to driving under influence of alcohol are so common these days. Moreover, the consumption makes ones immune system weak.

• India has a dubious distinction of being world’s second largest tobacco consuming nation, which not so surprisingly is the single greatest cause of preventable death. It kills 560 people every hour and the numbers are on the rise.

The sufferers can be anyone. Youngsters happen to be the most affected ones. The last thing anyone would do is to lure our people to consume these products through such advertisements and campaigns. It is turning out to be even more dreadful for our country for it not only is contributing to health and accidental concerns but is proving to be detrimental for its sacred culture too.