HBI Staff | Mumbai 
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) is urging companies to ensure compliance with surrogate advertising regulations after identifying multiple violations. Reported by The TOI, CCPA has requested data on brand extensions of alcoholic beverages and related revenue over the past three years, including expenses incurred in promoting these extensions.
CCPA aims to assess the correlation between sales and promotional spending of brand extensions to determine if they function as surrogates for alcoholic beverages. CCPA Chief Commissioner Rohit Kumar Singh emphasized the importance of this assessment in authentic representation.
With the Indian Premier League approaching, CCPA’s directive to alcohol companies and industry associations precedes the surge in advertisements, often used as surrogate campaigns due to liquor ad bans.
The directive advises the industry to ensure genuine brand extensions, avoiding cues of restricted categories in advertisements to safeguard consumer rights and prevent surrogate advertising threats.
