Body spray ad was potentially in serious violation of regulation, says ASCI

After seeing the ad campaign, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) immediately invoked a special process called "Suspended Pending Investigation" (SPI) and asked the advertiser to file a response over it.

Advertisement sector regulator ASCI, which has suspended the controversial advertisements of body spray brand Layer'r Shot, said it "was potentially in serious violation" of its code against offensive advertising. After seeing the ad campaign, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) immediately invoked a special process called "Suspended Pending Investigation" (SPI) and asked the advertiser to file a response over it.

"The said ad is in potential violation of ASCI's chapter II, which states that advertisements should contain nothing indecent, vulgar, especially in the depiction of women, or nothing repulsive which is likely, in the light of generally prevailing standards of decency and propriety, to cause grave and widespread offence," said a statement from ASCI issued on Saturday. ASCI, however, has not mentioned the name of the brand in its statement. In most cases, ASCI provides an opportunity for the advertiser to put forth its arguments before a recommendation is provided on the ad.

"However, in exceptional circumstances, when it appears prima facie that an advertisement is in serious breach of the ASCI code and its continued transmission can cause public harm or its continuation is against the public interest then ASCI would, pending investigation, direct the advertiser/the advertising agency/the media buying agency and the media concerned to suspend the advertisement," it said. A reply from Gujarat-based Adjavis Venture which owns Layer'r Shot could not be ascertained by the time of filing the story as the e-mail sent to the company remained unanswered.

Earlier on Saturday, the I&B ministry asked Twitter and YouTube to remove from their social media platforms the videos of advertisements of body spray Layer'r Shot, as it triggered outrage for "promoting sexual violence against women". In letters to Twitter and YouTube, the ministry of information and broadcasting said that the videos were "detrimental to the portrayal of women in the interest of decency and morality" and in violation of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code).

The videos of the perfume brand sparked outrage among a large section of social media users who complained the advertisement sought to promote sexual violence against women. According to ASCI, its Consumer Complaints Council shall adjudicate whether or not the advertisement is in breach of the code and pass appropriate order accordingly, after giving a reasonable opportunity of hearing to the advertiser of Layer'r Shot.

"In this specific case, ASCI wrote to the advertiser on June 3rd, informing them of the decision to suspend the advertising, and invited the advertiser's response which would be tabled before the Consumer Complaints Council in the coming days," said ASCI, adding that it has received confirmation that the channel that originally aired the ad has already pulled it down.

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