Following the discovery of several instances of liquor brands violating surrogate advertising regulations, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has called upon companies to ensure adherence to these standards. Moreover, they have asked for a compilation of products promoted under the same brand as alcoholic beverages, commonly referred to as brand extensions, within the last three years.

It has also sought revenue and turnover data pertaining to the sale of alcobev, as well as information on brand extension products (such as mineral water, playing cards, and music CDs) over the last three years.

Moreover, CCPA seeks details of expenditures related to promoting brand extensions over the past three years. These include expenses for sponsoring events, award ceremonies, music festivals, compensating celebrities and influencers, as well as airing TV advertisements.

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The agency aims to determine the correlation between the actual sales of the brand extension product and the money spent on its promotion.

“This assessment is critical for determining whether promoting of brand extension products authentically represents the extended product or functions as a surrogate for alcoholic beverages under the same brand,” CCPA chief commissioner Rohit Kumar Singh said.

The directive sent to all alcohol companies and industry associations arrives just days before the launch of the Indian Premier League, a time when such advertisements are commonly broadcasted and heavily promoted on social media platforms. Due to the ban on liquor advertisements, companies have resorted to surrogate ad campaigns to promote their products.

“The industry is advised to ensure that all brand extensions follow the broad principles of advertising only genuine extensions (that is, turnover and distribution in proportion to advertising spends), and ensure that advertisements contain no cues of restricted category such as tag lines and layouts and do not unduly suppress the category name and extension being advertised,” the two-page direction said. It also said that surrogate advertising posed a threat to consumer rights.

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