Celebrities endorsing misleading ads will have to pay penalty of up to Rs 50 lakh and serve a ban of up to three years once the Consumer Protection Bill 2018.
NEW DELHI: The advertising and talent management industry says it will seek clarification from the government on what is 'misleading', a day after the consumer affairs minister proposed a new consumer protection bill stating that celebrities face up to a three-year ban for appearing in misleading ads.
"We will seek clarification on this. While clamping down on misleading ads is good, how do we do detailed due diligence on the brands we associate with? Do we visit each of their plants, labs, test all their ingredient claims? If there's a misleading claim by the brand, it's the brand that needs to be questioned," said Arun Pandey, managing director at Rhiti Sports, which exclusively represents MS Dhoni, former cricket captain and among the country's top 10 highest paid celebrities.
Stating that the celebrity gets endorsement deals because of his or her credentials, Pandey cited the example of realty firm Amrapali. In mid-2016, Dhoni quit as brand ambassador of Amrapali after he was trolled extensively by dissatisfied buyers for delays in the completion of a housing project by the company.
Two years back, FIRs had been lodged by state-level courts against A-listers Amitabh Bachchan and Madhuri Dixit for endorsing Maggi noodles, soon after it was banned by food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. "Every endorsement includes a clause where the brand guarantees that they are not making false claims — this is legally binding," said Anirban Das Blah, managing director of leading talent management and content development firm Kwan Entertainment, representing Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor among close to hundred other names.
"How does one define what is misleading? How will the celebrity have all the resources to verify all claims of brands they endorse? In the absence of clearly defined guidelines, these will be impossible to implement," Blah, who recently inked a joint venture with brand management and licensing agency Dream Theatre, said.
Celebrities endorsing misleading ads will have to pay penalty of up to Rs 50 lakh and serve a ban of up to three years once the Consumer Protection Bill 2018, placed in the Lok Sabha on Friday by Minister of Food and Consumer Affairs Ram Vilas Paswan, is cleared by Parliament.
Prathap Suthan, managing partner of Bang in the Middle, who works with multiple celebrities said that the bill is "slightly off colour".
