First of all,Β ShishirΒ I am jealous of you because of the fact that for the topic I had to write a whole article to make my point clear, but you have done so in justΒ one sketch.
Alcohol and tobacco are widely considered as societal banes. An addiction to these not only means a detriment to one’s own health but also social and financial problems in the family. An addiction to alcohol can cause a host of kidney and liver problems and maybe even failure in serious cases. An estimate by National Crime Records Bureau in 2013 suggested that one Indian dies every 96 minutes due to alcohol consumption. On the other hand every year one million people die due to tobacco consumption in India. Adding to this the fact that many more people suffer regular health problems that arise due to alcohol and tobacco.
Keeping this in mind, the Indian Health Ministry lobbied for the passing of Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 which banned any sort of direct liquor, tobacco and cigarette advertisements. This was a welcome move. As a result of this came the idea of Surrogate Advertising. The term is defined as duplicating the brand image of one product to extensively promote another product of the same brand. The surrogate products are usually sodas, juices, playing cards, packaged mineral water or music CDs. In a way, this is just marvelously brilliant and genius. What goes best with alcohol? Water or soda. While drinking this, you can play cards and listen to music, all manufactured by the same brand. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Well no, most of these “CDs” and “sodas” don’t even exist and when they do, they are manufactured in very small numbers and promoted as “limited edition”. As such, the motivation of these firms look even more suspect when they advertise products that do not even exist.
It was all going well and good for the corporations until 2002 when in June of that year the Information and Broadcast Ministry of India banned about 14 advertisements of surrogate products of alcohol brands. As a result of this, the ads became more and more innovative so as to circumvent over the fact that they are indirectly promoting alcohol. Other ways to still maintain the brand image in public eye was to sponsor sports tournaments, award ceremonies, modeling contests etc.
While everyone should be free to drink and smoke whatever they want, it certainly isn’t in the best interest of the society to allow the promotion of these products and persuade the non indulging people of the society to take up a habit. The idea of surrogate advertising defeats the very purpose of banning such advertisements. Furthermore, to overcome this handicap, large brands rope in popular cricketers and movie stars to promote their brand image. This is especially dangerous because a lot of youngsters look up to and idolize these celebrities. People who drink and smoke would continue doing that regardless, but the promotion by celebrities only brings in youngsters to try their addictive offerings. Since a younger mind is easily corruptible, it is almost too easy to get addicted. An example of this was seen when James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan was roped in to promote a Paan Masala brand. Brosnan being an Irishman probably didn’t know about the concept of surrogate advertising and no one would have bothered to tell him either in case he withdrew from the project after knowing the truth. In the end, he was universally panned for promoting a banned product and had to apologize and make it clear that he didn’t know exactly what he was advertising. This just sounds like a lame excuse because the promotion had already been done, and hence he already had been paid his due, so nothing mattered now.
In conclusion, while surrogate advertising is a very clever marketing strategy, it definitely is unethical. The mere fact that someone is willing to put the lives of millions of people at stake just for financial gains should be reason enough to think so. It is just plain manipulative behavior. If the government really wants to curb this, it needs to remove the loopholes and bring in more stringent regulations.
THE END
What are your thoughts on surrogate advertising? Let me know in the comments section below. Here is an ad that is clearly selling music CDs and nothing else:
You enjoy this video while I go help myself to a glass of “soda” and shuffle through my rack of ” Music CDs”.
We are being manipulated in so many sly ways.
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One who has to smoke or drink will do irrespective of the ads, yes it shouldn’t be promoted by celebs. Just putting a line on tv and films * drinking or smoking is injurious, won’t help, really? kids are in google era, they ignore what they dont wanna see. Its all money game, pyttin
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Putting heavy taxes ,they are stuffing their pocket, bann the thing if u know its bad.
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That will lead to a new host of problems such as smuggling and moonshining, and believe me, moonshine is much more harmful than regular alcohol, we always get to see in the news that so many people died as a result of drinking not properly brewed alcohol. What actually needs to be done is proper regulation and not full prohibition.
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Rite said, forbiddence makes it way, but their regulations are not that effective, can’t smoke in public, but in private its alowed, under 18 is not served and sold but useless.
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Something needs to be done. There are so many people out there that can be saved, they just need a little help.
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Shining Gem,
I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award. If you’re interested in accepting, you can read all about it here: https://theceaselessreaderwrites.wordpress.com/2017/08/01/versatile-blogger-award-nomination/
Take care, be well, and happy blogging,
Denny
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As shiny as a Kohinoor diamond!Great.π
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That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me here. Thank you. π
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π
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Very well written post and it is indeed a serious concern now and it’s high time either Govt. Should strictly ban it or it will corrupt our future.
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I had no idea what surrogate advertising was – this was so well written and informative, thank you for teaching me about this awful thing!
Abby – http://www.seafoaming.com
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Well written. Celebrities too charge a hefty sum for brand endorsements, yes, due to which these products are costly
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I think that has more to do with the heavy taxes levied on such products. Usually the marketing and promotions budget is kept separately.
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Hey! I have nominated your blog for the Versatile Blogger Award! I really love reading your blog haha and even if you choose not to accept this I just wanted you to know that your blog is amazing π x
https://mydailyyaveragelife.wordpress.com/2017/08/04/the-versatile-blogger-award-3/
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Well written post…alcohol and tobacco really ruining our society…something against it needs to b done!
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This is the type of content I love! Informative, interesting and well written!
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Awesome post my friendπ
Why don’t you try poetry?π
Im wait for your poems
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Hahaha I am not a poet. I don’t have a rhythm.
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Everyone contains rhythm just try
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I trust you that you can write an awesome poem !π
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happy friendship day
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Thank you and wish you the same.
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Check my blog https://kirtidograblog.wordpress.com
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I already have, you don’t need to keep advertising otherwise WordPress will mark you as spam.
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Brilliant…critical thinking in action…you are so wise and communicate beautifully…thanks for sharing π
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My great grandpa passed away due to lung cancer and my uncle drank himself to death. I didn’t exactly know my great grandpa, but it’s still very sad, and I miss my uncle terribly.
I really like this post. I love how informative it is and how much truth it speaks.
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I am so sorry to hear that. Yes this is a very sad state of affairs. Alcoholism is nothing but a social evil.
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After my uncle passed away (I suffer from depression) I saw alcohol as an easy way out and drank every day alone in my room until I would passout drunk. I’m glad I’m not in that mindset anymore.. Especially since I’m about to have a kid, I don’t need him doing the same.
I still drink on occasion (not while pregnant) but I rarely get tipsy anymore. I’ve seen how it ruined my family and I don’t want it to anymore.
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I am so happy to read that you have escaped a life ruining habit. I am sure you will raise your child in the right way, drinking in moderation and not exposing him/her to such things.
Then again, you wouldn’t want your child to see alcohol advertisements and be tempted. And that is the reason why I feel such advertisements should not be available in the first place.
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My kid probably won’t be watching TV for a while anyways. I haven’t decided yet.
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It’s just not about TV, the ads are practically everywhere.
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I know. But my kid won’t be using Internet until he’s at least 10 so that really makes it less. Also, I can scare the crap out of him with stories of my grandpa’s. My mom’s stepdad is on an oxygen tank right now from smoking.
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That’s rough pal.
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Interesting topic! Agreed, there is plenty that needs to be done whether from a marketing stand point or from a society / cultural approach to normalising excessive smoking and alcohol.
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As a company secretary student, i have to study too much law and finance. We studied quiet extensively about this particular surrogate advertisement. This post just reminded me of my exam days when i was toiling day and night. It made me smile. Thankyou βΊ
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Glad you enjoyed it. π
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We used to have something similar with the Marlboro Man. He made smoking very attractive until it came out that several of them had died of lung cancer. Alcohol and tobacco companies are technically forbidden from advertising to people under the legal age of consumption but they are very creative in skirting the regulations. It’s my experience that more regulation doesn’t always solve the initial problem, and often creates new and unanticipated issues. I think that I believe in stringent rules and penalties, but also that humans will always find new and creative ways to be stupid.
This was well written. If you’re open to critique I’d suggest tightening it up a bit. See if you can get the same point across in less space. You can always add content, but condensing accurately is a skill.
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Nice post. I may not really understand the concept of surrogate advertising since I don’t live in India But I think businesses have to do what they do to survive.
Castigating these businesses might lean abit too far towards the moral/religious point of view while oversighting the fact that these companies do make a product that a lot of people enjoy using (wether you like it or not) and in truth the number of casualties are dismal in comparison to the number of users who enjoy and are willing to pay for their products, which is essentially why they still exist.
What if we say because of a few car accidents, Toyota should go out of business since they are killing people…that wouldn’t be right.
An outright ban on products that are highly patronized will also lead to bootlegging and a thriving black market for the products. The American Prohibition is evidence that the ban on alcohol only makes the brewers far richer since they can hike prices in the black market.
I think India can take a cue from Las Vegas in this regard. They have something called Sin-Tax which is simply a much higher tax rate for companies engaged in “sinful activities” such as gambling, alcohol and tobacco. Let the government make more money from these businesses and use them for social infrastructure. The businesses will continue to exist wether we like it or not. The smart way is to make the people benefit from them via tax more than they benefit from the people via patronage.
My 2 cents. Once again: Lovely post. Simply and concise writing. Thumbs up.
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God damn that was long, but thanks, I always appreciate such comments. Considering your Vegas suggestion, we already have much higher tax slabs for alcohol and tobacco products. Problem is, the tax collected by these means rarely go to the public benefit and mostly go to the pockets of politicians. We also have a few dry states. In some cases, an outright ban is a good thing, since I already live here and seen such things. People of the lower social strata drink away their daily wages and go home to beat up their wives in drunken stupors, a middle class or high class man might be able to drink in moderation, but poor people often do it without constraint and pay the price for it.
Now I am not in favour of Prohibition either, but I definitely am in favour of these companies not being allowed to market their product at such a large scale where low income men might fall in the trap and ruin their families and life.
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Lol. Sorry for the long post. Its a tough not to crack to be honest. On one hand, the wife beating incidents is a matter of private morality and can easily be attributed to the individuals with the argument that not all drinkers are wife beaters. On the other hand, correlation between the rate of spousal abuse and alcohol consumption may be high enough to prove causation.
Are you a lawyer? You’re analysis of social subjects is very thorough. I thought all educated Indians were IT Engineers. πππ (just kidding)
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Oh no, please do not apologize. I love long comments (only when relevant though).
Yes that is true. Many non drinkers abuse their spouses too, but the point here is that I don’t condone stuff that enables such behaviour, which alcohol obviously does. It is better to be safe than sorry, isn’t it?
Haha no I am not a lawyer. Social studies is just a topic I enjoy. I am an MBA aspirant, and probably you know how the admission process is with all the essay writings and group discussions. There, they usually ask us to write/discuss on such topics, which luckily happen to be on social studies too so I thought, well I should use my blog to practice that. Hence, I try to be as thorough with my thoughts as possible.
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Oh wow. That’s nice. A fellow MBA aspirant. Lol. What school do you have your sights on? I was planning to take the GMAT soon but I had a rethink. I’m now going for the CFA instead. I don’t think I’m in a position to go back to school for 2 years without income while accumulating debt. I havent gotten over law school yet even though it was 3 years ago. Lol. I do have my sights set on Ivy League though but I also hear the IBS (Indian Business School) is a fine institution too.
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CFA is a bit too expensive isn’t it? It is expensive even if you register early bird, but still I feel it’d be a good investment. I was thinking more along the lines of staying within India for MBA and hence I’ll be taking CAT (and other related exams) instead of GMAT.
If you are interested in pursuing your business diploma from India then yes, ISB is the way to go. But remember, it is Indian School of Business (ISB) and not IBS. IBS is another college located in the same city and is just trying to mooch off of the name of ISB. It isn’t even that good. Besides, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) (best one is located in Ahmedabad) also take international admissions through GMAT although their program is two years long instead of ISB’s one.
A lot of the colleges I mentioned are pretty good even by international standards (maybe even better than low rung Ivy leagues) but definitely not in the leagues of Harvard or Yale.
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Good to know. Thanks for the info. Its really a pleasure to meet you. Best regards from Nigeria
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The feeling is mutual bro. I hope you achieve your goal and become a millionaire by the time you’re 30. You have the intellectual ability, and I’m sure you’ll be able to make it.
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Reblogged this on AJEET SHARMA.
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