KiranaKart Technologies Private Limited - Zepto

Recommendation: Not Upheld | Medium: General Public

The ASCI had approached the advertiser for its response in addressing the grievances of the complainant and forwarded the details of the complaint, verbatim, to the advertiser with a request to respond to the same. The advertiser was offered an option to seek an Informal Resolution (IR) of the complaint by modifying or withdrawing the advertisement. The advertiser was also offered an opportunity for a telecon with the ASCI Secretariat, which they did not avail and submitted their response. The advertiser in their response stated that, “The content of the advertisement is rooted in the playful and light-hearted banter typical of sibling relationships. Our focus was on highlighting the differences between the siblings and their contrasting personalities, which is why the line “Ye meri real behen nahi hai” was used to humorously suggest that, despite being (real) siblings, they don’t always feel like real siblings due to their differences”. The Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) viewed the YouTube advertisement (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ4jTcJT5YA&t=22s) considered the complaint and the advertiser’s response. The CCC observed that the advertiser - `Zepto’ is offering free Shagun ka Lifafa to their customers on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. The CCC discussed that the advertisement captures the fun, teasing, and love that defines the relationship of siblings. In the advertisement, the brother saying to his sister, “sadak se utaayaa tuje tu bhi koi planned nahi hai. Isko zara batao Mummy yeh meri real behen nahin hai”, is used in a humorous context to express the sister's smart tricks for playfully exposing her brother's behavior. The CCC did not consider the use of these lines/sentences in the advertisement to be objectionable as it is not likely to cause grave and widespread offence. Based on these observations, the CCC concluded that the advertisement is not in contravention of the ASCI Code. This complaint was NOT UPHELD