Bhagyalaxmi Dairy Farms Private Limited - Pride of Cows

Recommendation: Upheld | Medium: General Public

The ASCI had approached the advertiser (yourselves) 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 claim in the advertisement, or alternately to substantiate the claim with supporting data. The advertiser was also offered an opportunity for a telecon with the ASCI Secretariat, which they did not avail and replied giving details of their advertising agency and copy of the advertisement. The advertiser was asked to substantiate the claim made. In the absence of any data, the advertiser was advised to withdraw the claim so that this complaint could be resolved under IR mechanism. In response, the advertiser had a telecon with the ASCI Secretariat and subsequently requested for a personal meeting to address the objections raised in the complaint. A date and time for the meeting was offered to them; however, they neither attended the meeting nor responded to the complaint. The Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) viewed the YouTube advertisement (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4DfQ7pKDw0) considered the complaint, and the advertiser’s reply. The CCC discussed that the advertiser has not provided verifiable comparative data, market survey or research data, demonstrating that their dairy farm is larger than other similar dairy farms in India. In the absence of claim support data, the CCC concluded that the claim, “India's Largest Dairy Farm”, was not substantiated. The source and date for the claim is not indicated in the advertisement. The claim is misleading by exaggeration. The said claim contravened Chapter I, Clauses 1.1, 1.2, and 1.4 of the ASCI Code. This complaint was UPHELD.