Advertisements of ‘healthy foods’ have long been glorifying half-truths. This year, ASCI, with due backing from the government and changed laws, is set to cause a lot of whiplash
By Malay Desai
Last June, in a landmark ruling, the American Supreme Court allowed the makers of POM Wonderful, a pomegranate-blueberry drink, to sue beverage giant Coca-Cola for a misleading label on their competitor drink, Minute Maid. But if Coke calling its product ‘pomegranate blueberry’ despite it being made of 99.5% apple and grape juice sounds crazy, hear these:
Kellogg once claimed that children who had its Frosted Mini Wheats cereal improved their attentiveness by ‘nearly 20%’, a figure they’d rounded up from ’11%’ – and it was one they had arrived at by comparing the children to those who had NO breakfast at all! Another cereal brand, Kashi, claimed to sell ‘all natural’ products until a lawsuit exposed its contents to be ‘almost entirely synthetic’ and ‘federally classified hazardous substances’. Why, even the litigant in the Coke case, POM Wonderful, had indulged in messaging such as ‘cheat death’ and ‘off to save prostates’.
The good news? While the American advertising ecosystem, despite the current tightening noose around fraudulent adverts, may let brands say just about anything and get away, things are slightly better off in India. With the country’s regulator of advertising, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) having entered into a partnership with the government in November 2014, advertisers promising slimmer waists, smarter children and other assorted ways to immortality might have to rethink their ways.
Moreover, if ASCI agrees to proposals of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) made just last fortnight, the noose around misleading F&B products will tighten further.
We spoke to the top heads of the Council, representatives of popular erring brands, watchdogs of public health as well as marketing pundits to discuss how this cookie will crumble.
The ‘Functional Food’ Factor
Walk down to your neighbourhood hypermarket and drop a rupee for each time you see a product that promises a stronger heart, lower cholesterol and reduced sugar levels… and you’ll be out of change in seconds. There were times in advertising when food brands would promise miraculous cures to diseases and other outwardly things (The drink Dr Pepper was sold as a ‘brain tonic’ at drug stores) but now, long since the ‘no ullu-banaoing’ era has begun, the approaches have been a little more pragmatic.
Now, as miraculous claims remain only in fringe advertising as the consumer has smartened up and regulation has become tighter, brands have gone one-up in the game by repositioning their foods as being ‘functional’. So while cereal A does not say it will cure your obesity, it says, rather attractively, that it ‘promotes health’; and biscuit B, not promising to prevent heart disease, vaguely calls itself ‘whole’ or ‘natural’ or something that vaguely maintains wellness. Welcome to the world of exaggerated claims, misleading catchphrases and the great Indian middle class, buying into ‘health’ amidst its stressful lifestyle.
While the most regularly caught culprits of misleading advertisements of smartly positioned ‘functional foods’ are milk additives and digestive biscuits, there have been many more, some perhaps lying inside your kitchen at this moment.
Milk additives
Old-timers among you would know, back in the 80s, ‘health drinks’ were marketed only to the elderly and sick, but in the next decade and more so in the ’00s, the target audience changed to children. With some help from the pressures of our education system and social norms, milk additive brands created a breed of ‘smarter’ and ‘taller’ children who were in some way better than the others. While Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar phased out as the Boost drinker’s inspirational idols, the real hero became ‘homework’ and better memory.
While it’s difficult to point out if GSK’s Horlicks began the race in 2004 with its ‘taller, sharper, stronger’ claim, the competition intensified with Complan getting an ‘independent scientific research study’ to claim its kids grew taller by three centimetres compared to non-Complan drinkers!
Today, the Rs 4,000 crore malt drink market (or ‘health drinks’) as the brands call themselves, target the parents with a hotchpotch of promises about their children’s intellect, height, energy and more. Big campaigns especially begin around this period and go up to exam time, i.e., March-April.
Programme Director of the Center for Public Health and Awareness (CPHA), Prof Smitha Sarma Ranganathan, makes it clear that just these drinks can have no impact on a child’s health or intellect. “While minerals and vitamins (what these energy drinks contain) do have an impact on these parameters, drinking them alone doesn’t assure one of these benefits. I would any day go for balanced and sustainable means of growth and development, right from childhood and all through one’s life,” she tells us.
While ASCI has upheld adverts by all three big players, Cadbury (Bournvita), GSK (Boost and Horlicks) and Heinz (Complan) in the past, it is likely to pick upon them more often now, thanks to a more streamlined process of complaints.
One of the clever adverts which surprisingly skipped the ASCI radar was Complan’s TVC of it having ‘8 memory chargers.’ The commercial’s voice-over said that the reason for a child forgetting things could be incomplete nutrition, while the visual showed a child refusing his meal of chapatti, dal, sabzi and chawal. The Hindi narration talked about feeding children with New Complan that had ‘8 memory chargers’.
“How do the 8 memory chargers help improve a child’s memory? We were surprised that a complaint against this was not upheld by ASCI, though we learnt from the company that the FSSAI had initiated adjudication proceedings against the TVC,” says Pritee Shah, Chief General Manager of the Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC).
Biscuits: Hard to digest
In 1892, McVitie’s became the pioneer of thinking that the biscuit can be ‘digestive’ too, and it still is telling us the same, these days with a little help from actor Bipasha Basu. The other big players in this increasingly big market are Britannia with NutriChoice and Horlicks’ Nutribic. While Basu may seduce us with the nutritive values of her biscuit, her brand as well as all others won’t tell you about the levels of unsaturated fat and sugar.
“All bakery items or so-called diet foods are high in sodium or many other preserved components,” says Malavika Athavale, who runs a nutrition clinic in Mumbai, adding that as most of the biscuits’ target consumers are on-the-go, whole grain or multi grain by default becomes a comparatively better choice than biscuits made with refined flour or maida.
The nutritional segment of the over Rs 12,000 crore biscuit market may be small, but the biggies are prepared to go to war. With Britannia at the forefront (NutriChoice declaring ‘no added sugar’ and vying for the diabetics pie and Vita Marie claiming to be ‘heart-friendly’ and ‘help reduce cholesterol’), Horlicks is playing catch-up and Parle too is now in the fray.
With Parle Digestive Marie and Actifit sugarless Cream Cracker, the food giant has unveiled its first step into the ‘healthy food’ market. And if we go by the packaging of Parle’s new digestive biscuit Simply Good, it has started off without loud claims. “The brand follows the philosophy of mindful eating. Rather than scaring off consumers, we ask them to enjoy everything in the right proportion. We have always been honest to our consumers - their trust in us is testimony. No brand will gain in the long run if it is not true and honest to its customers,” says Pravin Kulkarnii, Parle’s General Manager – Marketing.
Kulkarnii feels the proposed tie-up with the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) will help ASCI. “It will augment the efforts to stop misleading ads and provide the necessary wherewithal to implement ASCI directives to advertisers about changing misleading ads,” he adds, although feeling that it is self-regulation in the end that can lead to responsible advertising.
Noodles: The coiled truths
Nutritionists and health experts might have found it hard to control their sniggers when Nestle, makers of the market dominator Maggi Noodles, positioned them as ‘healthy’. Coming from the organization that hasn't even spared discouraging breast-feeding in poor communities to promote its health drink, it seems even less believable that instant noodles can be good for your health.
ASCI, which has regularly seen Nestle products go under the scanner (it even rapped Maggi soups in 2007 for falsely claiming to be ‘heart-friendly’), upheld complaints against Maggi’s recent claims of making health ‘mazedaar’ and depicting Madhuri Dixit in a fit lifestyle.
“When our in-house laboratory tested instant noodle brands, the results showed that they were high on salt and fat, making them an unhealthy option, especially for regular consumption. ASCI upheld our complaint,” informs Pritee Shah of CERC. Her centre has also debunked Maggi’s claim of its oats variant having real vegetables. “The dehydrated vegetables which are present in the taste-maker would not be a significant source of nutrients both in terms of quality and quantity,” she said.
Not surprisingly, Maggi’s competitors are also not far away from misreporting on their products’ benefits. In October last year, the Consumer Education and Research Society (CERS), Ahmedabad found high salt and fat content in Top Ramen and Ching’s Secret too.
Expectedly, nutritionist Athavale too isn’t convinced by healthy noodle adverts: “Be it wheat or oats, the preservation and sodium part (in packaged products) continues to be unhealthy. Consuming such foods on a regular basis is definitely a no!” she says.
ASCI and the ‘toothless’ factor
Ask any industry stake-holder or advertiser with or without a history of being pulled up by India’s only regulatory body for mainstream advertising (ASCI), and chances are that there will be a mention of ineffectiveness. For years, ASCI, thanks to its role as a regulator, has been regarded as a toothless organization in terms of inability to take action against erring brands.
ASCI Secretary General, Shweta Purandare, however, puts forth her point of view to the contrary: “We believe in promoting self-regulation. But that said, it would be wrong to refer to us as toothless - over 90% of the advertisers against whom we uphold complaints take off their ads or modify them. When it comes to TV, the compliance is 100%!” she tells us.
Now, with ASCI’s partnership with the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), the latter will redirect complaints it receives to ASCI, to avoid duplication of processing. The tie-up has prioritized six sectors of tracking complaints, and ‘agriculture and food’ is among them. What this means is that the government will build a coalition of watchdogs to combat misleading advertisements and consequent unfair trade practices.
“The Ministry (of Information & Broadcasting) has always been supportive to us. Now, with the Consumer Affairs ministry making us key stake-holders, advertisers will be even more cautious,” Purandare adds. Well, the advertisers will especially do so if they witness show-cause notices being served to others.
Soumitra Sen, President, DDB Remedy, agrees that government assistance on censorship matters always helps. “Interpretation of rules and regulations is better left to government bodies - they more often than not have the most correct interpretation of the law, leaving little room for confusion and accusations of favouritism. While ‘the government can interpret law and help in implementation, ASCI could be the watchdog that could ensure that everyone is dealt with equitably,” he tells us.
Shah, however, echoes what many other industry pundits also believe: “Just the partnership may not have the desired impact. ASCI is a self-regulatory body and its code needs review and modification. We hope the proposed measures envisaged in the amendments to the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 will curb the menace of misleading ads,” she says.
Loose change – The Rs 10 lakh penalty
A crucial reason why the marketer of the pseudo healthy product is laughing all the way to the bank after misleading you with exaggerated claims is that in case his packaging or communication is found and proven to be fraudulent, the penalty is just Rs 10 lakh. Or, as some mega-brands term it, ‘the sales of half a day in a metro’.
While the key heads at ASCI, Purandare and Chairman Narendra Ambwani (see interview) refused to comment on this, the truth remains that this pittance of a penalty isn’t discouragement enough for big advertisers to stop making outwardly promises on their packaging.
The dusty corridors of FSSAI in Delhi might not have responded to our probes adequately in this regard, but here’s a suggestion to them if they’re reading this – raise the penalty if the brand’s sales are national and run into crores.
Sen points out more holes in ASCI & I&B Ministry’s processes which allow sly advertisers to slip away with profits: “It’s important that the offending message gets off-limits for mass consumption. The problem is that by the time ASCI and the I&B Ministry find something objectionable, the ad often runs for a few weeks and in many instances a couple of months before it is taken off air. Brands and their managers laugh all the way to the bank, because they anyway reap the benefits of the investment made, until any decision is taken on its actual fate by ASCI. Even after that, brand owners are given multiple opportunities to defend their case and a last recourse to law is always there for anyone who is hell bent on delaying the final decision.”
Creating a market that isn’t
In classic cases of clever marketing - and not only in India - there are ad campaigns which create insecurities among the target audiences’ psyche and convert many into users of a product that didn't exist until about a decade ago. Cooking oil brands indulging in gender-targeted ads, we are pointing especially at you!
Ranganathan of CPHA has a thought or two about cooking oils that promise husbands a healthier heart. “Low-cholesterol oils targeting men alone is myopic advertising. While heart disease over the years has acquired a male demeanour, women perhaps are at equal if not higher risk at specific periods of their lives, such as menopause. In the context of today’s occupations and lifestyles, sensitivity to heart health is of paramount importance for both men and women,” she asserts.
Shah seconds this, stating the FSSAI guidelines for food advertising. “They clearly state that ‘no person can engage himself in any unfair trade practice for purpose of promoting the… consumption of articles of food …by visible representation which makes a false or misleading representation concerning the need for, or the usefulness of (the product).’ Despite this, many foods are marketed as health foods in India, making consumers feel the need for the product. In Australia, the law is very strict about manufacturers making health claims. For instance, to justify the manufacture and sale of fortified foods, manufacturers have to establish that a certain section of the population has a deficiency, which makes the fortified foods necessary,” she explains.
It’s a long way to go then, before regulators have teeth that bite and advertisers have a voice that doesn't lie. For now, all that consumers need is a mind that makes an informed choice.
The Noose Will Tighten in 2015
On December 23, 2014, Jagat Prakash Nadda, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, answered a question in the Rajya Sabha regarding advertising of food supplements. His response, confirming that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has requested a partnership with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), carries a warning for food advertisers making tall claims.
“FSSAI has asked ASCI to undertake comprehensive monitoring of advertisements appearing with respect to (F&B) across various media segments…; to bring to FSSAI’s notice any F&B advertisement making unsubstantiated claims and misleading the consumers; to examine the advertisements concerning F&B products (most of which are scientifically unsubstantiated) being endorsed by celebrities, with a view to requesting the celebrities to restrain from endorsing such products; and provide information to FSSAI about the advertisement…” the health minister said.
While the formal association with ASCI hasn’t yet happened, it is believed that the body will make a statement soon. The FSSAI and ASCI joining hands will impact not only the brands which mislead, but their celeb endorsers and media as well.
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