8 of 10 consumers surveyed say that despite surrogate advertising being banned they are still seeing surrogate ads for alcohol and tobacco brands

March 17, 2025, New Delhi: On March 15th, India celebrated World Consumer Rights day. However, many consumers, especially parents have been feeling their rights being violated as surrogate advertisements continue to be rampant, especially for chewable tobacco product brands in India. Parents have been raising concerns on LocalCircles about their young kids watching celebrities in ads of Vimal and Kamla Pasand brands, many repeating the tag lines and asking them about these products. This is after surrogate advertising has been banned by Government of India.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare last week issued a directive to IPL organisers to regulate tobacco and alcohol advertisements, including surrogate advertisements and sales during the IPL season starting from March 22’nd. The directive has urged cricketers not to send a “contradictory” message to the public about health and fitness by directly or indirectly promoting any form of alcohol or tobacco substances as they are the cause of several health conditions.

Despite being prohibited and objected to from time-to-time surrogate advertisements for products like tobacco, alcohol and gaming continue to be aired on a regular basis. According to Clause 6 of ‘Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022’ issued by the Central Consumer Protection Authority: “No surrogate advertisement or indirect advertisement shall be made for goods or services whose advertising is otherwise prohibited or restricted by law, by circumventing such prohibition or restriction and portraying it to be an advertisement for other goods or services, the advertising of which is not prohibited or restricted by law.”

The catch is that there was also a clear mention of provisions around brand extension that states, “Mere use of a brand name or company name which may also be applied to goods, product or service whose advertising is prohibited or restricted shall not be considered to be surrogate advertisement or indirect advertisement, if such advertisement is not otherwise objectionable as per the provisions set out in these guidelines.”

Surrogate, meaning ‘substitute’, is a surreptitious way to promote and advertise products of brands — when the original product cannot be advertised legally or due to external regulations. Naturally, a brand advertising an unrelated product also indirectly promotes the banned product as the brand recall translates into the consumer instantly thinking of the packaging. For instance, banned products like chewing tobacco are not projected directly on TV or newspapers, but rather morphed with another product under the same brand name. Gutkha companies, for instance, sell both gutkha and cardamom. But the advertisement on television is one about the latter.

In November 2020, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), which has its own set of guidelines for brand extensions, investigated advertisements for liquor brand extensions appearing during IPL. As a part of the investigation, the following year it banned surrogate advertising of 12 liquor companies. The spotlight is now on the tobacco industry. In 2023, actor Akshay Kumar apologized for appearing in an advertisement for the pan masala brand Vimal with Ajay Devgn and Shah Rukh Khan while endorsing Vimal Elaichi. People severely criticized the actors for endorsing products that pose a threat to their health. While Kumar’s response was to step back from this brand association, Ajay Devgn went on to defend his appearance as a “personal choice”.

According to the ASCI regulations, celebrities, whether actors or sportsperson should not feature in advertisements for a product that would legally require a health warning in the packaging or the ad. The regulations notwithstanding, the moral responsibility of the influencer/ celebrity is tremendous and thus questionable. Curiously, while claiming to tighten the guidelines for brand extension for surrogate advertising in restricted categories, ASCI has now added provision that “advertising budgets of brand extensions of restricted master brands to be commensurate to the extension’s sales turnover”. This in effect allows for surrogate ads to persist and flourish as sales of many products not allowed to be legally advertised have huge turnovers.

Given the ongoing concerns of parents, LocalCircles through a survey gathered national consumer pulse on surrogate ads. The survey received over 38,000 responses from citizens located in 314 districts of India. 61% respondents were men while 39% respondents were women. 44% respondents were from tier 1, 35% from tier 2 and 21% respondents were from tier 3 & 4 districts.

79% of consumers surveyed say that despite surrogate advertising being banned they are still seeing surrogate ads for liquor and tobacco brands

In the backdrop of the controversies over Vimal ads, the survey asked “Mid 2023 surrogate or indirect advertisements were banned in India for alcohol and tobacco product brands. What are the types of surrogate ads you are still seeing?” This query received 13,277 responses with 16% stating that “liquor brand ads are still being displayed”; 18% of respondents stating that “tobacco brand surrogate ads are still being displayed” and 45% pointing that “both of the above are being displayed”. In addition, 3% of respondents stated “none of the above are being displayed” and 18% stating that they “can’t say/not sure”. To sum up, 79% of consumers surveyed say that despite surrogate advertising being banned they are still seeing surrogate ads for liquor and tobacco brands.

68% of consumers surveyed say that despite surrogate advertising being banned, they are still seeing celebrities featuring in surrogate ads for liquor and tobacco brands

With the Government taking a critical view of celebrities promoting banned products through indirect advertisements, the survey asked “Mid 2023, surrogate or indirect advertisements were banned in India for alcohol and tobacco brands and celebrities were advised to refrain from being part of them. Are you still seeing celebrities appear in such surrogate ads?” This query received 13,322 responses with 44% indicating “yes, several celebrities are still appearing in such ads”; 24% indicated “yes, a few celebrities are still appearing in such ads”; and 32% of respondents indicated “can’t say/ not sure”. To sum up, 68% of consumers surveyed say that despite surrogate advertising being banned, they are still seeing celebrities featuring in surrogate ads for liquor and tobacco brands”.

67% of consumers surveyed want the government to mandate an undertaking by brands before advertising that they do not have an alcohol or tobacco brand directly or indirectly affiliated with them

As companies and brands continue to violate advertising norms about not promoting use of banned products, the survey asked “Some of the brands that are engaging in showing surrogate ads in media are using different companies for advertising regular products and sin products (alcohol, tobacco, etc.). To close this loophole, should the brands that are advertising be required to provide an undertaking and a detailed declaration that there is no sin (alcohol, tobacco, etc.) products under the same brand name directly or indirectly affiliated with them?” Of the 12,134 who responded to this query 67% stated “yes, absolutely”; 18% indicated “no, they will find some loophole”; and 9% of respondents stated “no, let surrogate advertising continue”. To sum up, 67% of consumers surveyed want the government to mandate an undertaking by brands before advertising that they do not have an alcohol or tobacco brand directly or indirectly affiliated with them. The Government must require that this undertaking be validated by all media outlets (print, television, radio or digital) when accepting an advertisement for publishing from a brand.

In summary, the Central Consumer Protection Authority’s notification from 2023 of banning surrogate ads has not proved effective as 79% of consumers surveyed say that they are still seeing surrogate ads for liquor and tobacco brands. Further, 68% of consumers surveyed say that despite surrogate advertising being banned, they are still seeing celebrities featuring in surrogate ads for liquor and tobacco brands. With both the companies and the celebrities not desisting from surrogate or indirect advertising of banned products like alcohol or tobacco, 67% of consumers surveyed want the government to mandate an undertaking by brands before advertising with any form of media stating that they do not have an alcohol or tobacco brand directly or indirectly affiliated with them. The government should also impose severe penalties on the companies/ brands and celebrities violating the rules to ensure proper implementation.

Survey Demographics

The survey received over 38,000 responses from citizens located in 314 districts of India. 61% respondents were men while 39% respondents were women. 44% respondents were from tier 1, 35% from tier 2 and 21% respondents were from tier 3 & 4 districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform, and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.