Motorola India Private Limited - Motorola Razr 60

Recommendation: Upheld | Medium: Suo Motu - NAMS (TAMS)

The ASCI had approached the brand owner - advertiser (Motorola India Private Limited) and the influencer (Yash Tiwari) for their respective responses in addressing the objections raised in the complaint. The advertiser and the influencer were also offered an opportunity for a telecon with the ASCI Secretariat, which they did not avail, and the advertiser submitted their response. The advertiser clarified that they do not have any direct contractual relationship with the influencer. The post appears to have been independently curated, without any direct input from Motorola. They have requested their agency to engage with the influencer to ensure required disclosures are updated in the advertisement. The Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) viewed the original Instagram advertisement (https://www.instagram.com/p/DKcLRYTTeNh/), considered the complaint, and the advertiser’s reply. The CCC noted that there was no reply from the influencer. The CCC observed that the advertisement features an influencer promoting the advertiser’s product – `Motorola Razr 60’. While the advertisement includes the disclosure label `collab’, it is placed at the end of the caption. As it is not stated upfront, this disclosure label could be missed by an average viewer. Furthermore, when viewed on a mobile device, the same may not be immediately visible and would require the viewer to scroll down to see it. Based on these observations, the CCC concluded that the Instagram advertisement contravened Clause 1, 1.2 (a, c) of the ASCI Guidelines for Influencer Advertising in Digital Media. This complaint was UPHELD. The CCC noted that the advertisement has been amended to include the disclosure label at the beginning of the post. However, the disclosure label used is not "#Collaboration", which is one of the permitted disclosure labels as per ASCI’s Influencer Guidelines. We noted that post the complaint being deliberated at the CCC meeting, the advertisement has been amended to include the appropriate disclosure label.