Advertising Standards Council of India

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Prescription for Deception – An Analysis of Pharmaceutical Advertising in India

Introduction

Pharmaceutical advertisements hold significant power in shaping public perception of drugs, their efficacies and treatment options. In India, where healthcare access and awareness are often limited, misleading advertisements can have serious consequences. These ads have the potential to mislead customers and even endanger lives by exaggerating benefits or downplaying risks. Misleading advertisements, then, can simply be understood as uncorroborated, unsubstantiated, and often false claims made by pharmaceutical companies about their drugs – the lofty claims made by companies advertising their “COVID curing”[1] drugs to claims regarding “miracle drugs” that can battle life threatening diseases, are all case in point when one refers to misleading advertisements.Continue Reading Prescription for Deception – An Analysis of Pharmaceutical Advertising in India

Ecommerce Rules

Have you seen this while shopping online?

Hurry- Limited stock available!

Flash deal for 10 minutes only!

Have you been redirected to a download page instead of shutting a popup while playing an online game?

Have you selected food items at a certain price and suddenly noticed addition of delivery fee, packaging fee, partner fee, plus an additional tax just when you check out your cart?

Welcome to the world of dark patterns!Continue Reading Dark Patterns: An (un) fair trade practice?

Of Gambling and Gaming

India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (“MIB”), on June 13, 2022, issued an advisory (“Gambling Advisory”)1 to the media, including newspapers, private satellite television channels and publishers of news and current affairs on digital media, which has been the subject of much discussion and reporting.Continue Reading Of Gambling and Gaming: A Tale of two Advisories