The Customer Complaints Council (CCC) of the Advertising watchdog ASCI, had received 247 complaints against misleading advertisements in the month of January 2018 and out of those, complaints against 171 advertisements were upheld. The list contains the advertisements of popular brands like Samsung, L’Oreal India Private Ltd, HDFC life and Byju's.

Amongst the advertisements which are found misleading, 118 advertisements belonged to the healthcare sector, 16 to the education sector, 10 to the food and beverages category, 5 to personal care and 22 were from other categories.

These are the reasons why those ads were termed misleading

1. Byju's

The learning app Byju's advertisements had made these claims:

• 1 Crore students are learning from the app.
• It has got a 600 member strong Research and Development team, to create the best learning programs for students
• After using Byju's learning app, 93% parents reported an overall improvement in children's grades.
• 90% of students renew their courses each year.
• Student spends an average of 51 minutes on the app, each day.

But, all the information claimed in the advertisements was not substantiated with supporting data and were found to be misleading.

2. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd (HDFC life)

HDFC life's advertisement claimed that "Poor Air Quality can lead to Cancer". This is a misleading statement. The advertisement created fear in the consumer's mind by using the word "can" instead of using the word "may". The advertisement takes advantage of consumer’s lack of awareness and this leads to fear in the minds of consumers.

3. Samsung Galaxy Note 8

The advertisement by Samsung Galaxy Note 8 claims that it is the "Best Camera Phone". This was found to be false and misleading. The advertisement had tried to utilize consumers’ lack of knowledge and take advantage of it.

4. Crocin 650

The advertisement claimed that the tablet is a fast release formula and starts working in just five minutes. But, there is no evidence to support this statement/claim.

5. Tata Salt

The Tata Salt advertisement claims there are "no added chemicals" in the product. But, the statement is misleading and contradictory to the disclaimer mentioned in the advertisement.

6. Polycab Wires Pvt Ltd (Polycab Cables & Wires):

The advertisement of Polycab’s claim to power saving (Polycab Wires lagao aur bijli bachao), was found to be misleading. There is no evidence to support the claim. In the advertisement, actor Paresh Ravel convinces his neighbor to use Polycab wires and save electricity which is misleading.

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7. L’Oreal India Private Ltd:

In this advertisement, Actress Alia Bhatt has endorsed "New Garnier Light Serum Complete Cream". Two friends of Alia Bhatt had dark spots and dark skin. Alia promises her friends that Garnier serum cream will solve their problems. Later Alia and friends can be seen in all their glamour and with fair skin. The advertisement’s claim, “With new Garnier Light Complete …. de three tones lighter skin sirf ek week mein", was found to be misleading.

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