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Jump to full article: agencyfaqs! (in), 2008-04-11
Intro: Last month, the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) sent out a bombshell to broadcasters. Freed of legalese, the message was: Stop accepting non-liquor and non-tobacco advertisements from liquor and tobacco brands. The cut-off date? March 28, 2008.
Just days before that missive - or threat, depending on which side you are on - Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss had asked the I&B ministry to take action against tobacco and liquor companies indulging in surrogate advertising in print, electronic and outdoor media as well.
While the I&B ministry directive quoted the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, the health minister, according to PTI, stated that brands such as Bagpiper soda, McDowell's, Johnny Walker soda and Kingfisher mineral water are using surrogate advertising, which need to be stopped. The same goes for products that have exactly the same brand name and logo, which had earlier been there in the liquor ads.
What happens now? . . .
How will it end? Sources at Kingfisher and other companies say that it will be highly speculative to talk about what they will do. They are waiting for any other directive by the ministries in question.
As the ban goes into effect, one thing is clear. If the broadcasters accept this ruling without question, it won't be long before the 'dragnet' spreads.
The next target could be print followed by radio (which does see a lot of event announcements) and probably the Internet - not necessarily in that order.
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