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NEW DELHI: Bollywood celebrities such as Jaqueline Fernandez and Ranveer Singh along with a clutch of popular digital content creators have been found violating advertising guidelines for social media influencers.
The guidelines issued by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) that came into effect in June last year state that all paid social media posts by virtual influencers must carry disclosure labels that clearly identifies those as advertisements.
An Instagram post by Virat Kohli, for instance, in which the cricketer talks about his love for a pair of sneakers, states at the beginning that it’s a “paid partnership with Puma”. Several top celebrities in India started using similar disclaimers after the guidelines kicked in.
In addition, ASCI said the disclosures must be upfront and prominent so that they are not missed by an average consumer.
The non-compliant influencers were found advertising products of several brands including Nykaa, Myntra, Radisson Hotel Group, Manyavar and Colorbar Cosmetics, according to ASCI.
“I only promote and talk about brands I believe in and personally use and do what I do because I love to do it,” celebrity stylist and luxury consultant, Sonam Babani, who featured among the influencers in the non-compliant list, told TOI. “I have open conversations with my followers and always give them honest opinions when they reach out to me and they will vouch for that!”
A significant percentage of social media influencers in India, however, were compliant. Around 80% of them voluntarily withdrew or amended their posts when told that they had breached the guidelines, showed a report by Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).
Fashion and lifestyle, cosmetics, food and beverage and personal care were the top four categories that witnessed the maximum number of paid posts without disclosures.
Manisha Kapoor, secretary general at ASCI, told TOI that complaints about repeat offenders will be escalated to sector regulators such as FSSAI, Ayush, DoCA, FDA and MIB.
“Overall compliance is good at ASCI at over 95-97%. We expect influencer compliance also to reach those levels soon,” she said.
The guidelines issued by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) that came into effect in June last year state that all paid social media posts by virtual influencers must carry disclosure labels that clearly identifies those as advertisements.
An Instagram post by Virat Kohli, for instance, in which the cricketer talks about his love for a pair of sneakers, states at the beginning that it’s a “paid partnership with Puma”. Several top celebrities in India started using similar disclaimers after the guidelines kicked in.
In addition, ASCI said the disclosures must be upfront and prominent so that they are not missed by an average consumer.
The non-compliant influencers were found advertising products of several brands including Nykaa, Myntra, Radisson Hotel Group, Manyavar and Colorbar Cosmetics, according to ASCI.
“I only promote and talk about brands I believe in and personally use and do what I do because I love to do it,” celebrity stylist and luxury consultant, Sonam Babani, who featured among the influencers in the non-compliant list, told TOI. “I have open conversations with my followers and always give them honest opinions when they reach out to me and they will vouch for that!”
A significant percentage of social media influencers in India, however, were compliant. Around 80% of them voluntarily withdrew or amended their posts when told that they had breached the guidelines, showed a report by Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).
Fashion and lifestyle, cosmetics, food and beverage and personal care were the top four categories that witnessed the maximum number of paid posts without disclosures.
Manisha Kapoor, secretary general at ASCI, told TOI that complaints about repeat offenders will be escalated to sector regulators such as FSSAI, Ayush, DoCA, FDA and MIB.
“Overall compliance is good at ASCI at over 95-97%. We expect influencer compliance also to reach those levels soon,” she said.
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