The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has asked the advertisers of ‘Vedacharya Jandar Dhuan Oil’ to “suitably modify” or “withdraw” the product’s television commercial, which claims that it provides “90% to 95% relief from joint pain with just one application”, by August 19.
This follows a complaint registered with the ASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council by CAPSULE Kerala, a wing of the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad. In its order, the ASCI pointed out that the claim in the advertisement was not “substantiated with clinical evidence and clinical third party test reports for efficacy to prove that the product provides the benefits.” The ad claimed that there were many patients who felt that they would have to spend their entire lives in a wheelchair. However, after using the oil, they “started climbing stairs”. The ad also showed a person in a white coat endorsing the product.
CAPSULE Kerala functionaries U. Nandakumar and M.P. Anil Kumar said in their complaint that no evidence had been provided to substantiate the health claims made in the ad and it exploited consumers’ desperation for a remedy for joint problems.
The ASCI order said that the claims were not substantiated with robust clinical evidence of patients, who were successfully treated and cured of joint pains by the usage of the product. The source for the claims was not indicated in the ad too. The claims were misleading by exaggeration and were likely to lead to widespread disappointment in the minds of consumers. The said claims in the ad contravened Chapter I, Clauses 1.1, 1.2, 1.4 and 1.5 of the ASCI Code.
The ASCI also highlighted the Medical Council of India’s orders barring qualified medical practitioners or doctors from appearing in advertisements. For a lay person or consumer, someone in a white lab coat could give an impression that the individual was a doctor by profession. This could suggest that the product was being endorsed by the said doctor, which was misleading. The protagonist in the ad shown as a doctor claiming about the efficacy of the oil contravened Chapter I, Clause 1.4 and Chapter III, Clause 3.4 of the ASCI Code. The ASCI also pointed out that though it had approached the advertiser for its response, nothing was forthcoming.
