Vivo Mobile India Private Limited - Vivo V70 Elite

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

The ASCI had approached yourselves for your response in addressing the objection raised in the complaint (https://www.instagram.com/p/DVivQvEjzAr/?img_index=1) You were offered an option to seek Informal Resolution (IR) of the complaint by modifying or withdrawing the claim objected to in the advertisement, or alternately to substantiate the claim with the required supporting data. In the absence of a written response along with documents for substantiation on or before the prescribed due date, the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) considered this complaint Exparte. Advertisement shows an Influencer promoting a smartphone brand. The advertisement carries a disclosure label `#Ad’ in the advertisement. However this disclosure label is hidden in the description among other hashtags. It is not stated upfront and hence could be missed by a viewer. The disclosure label would not be visible to an average consumer when viewed from a mobile phone and the viewer would need to scroll down to view the same. In the absence of a disclosure label at the start of the advertisement, the advertisement is misleading by omission and exploits consumers' lack of knowledge. This advertisement is in contravention of Chapter I, Clauses 1.4 and 1.5 of the ASCI Code, and Clause 1, 1.2 (a, c) of ASCI Guidelines for Influencer Advertising in Digital Media. The Complaint was Upheld .