Subhash Kamath elected ASCI chairman, says body won't look at political advertising

Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) newly elected Chairman Subhash Kamath on Thursday said the self-regulatory organisation will not go into monitoring political advertising, which is not part of its mandate right now.

Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) newly elected Chairman Subhash Kamath on Thursday said the self-regulatory organisation will not go into monitoring political advertising, which is not part of its mandate right now. Kamath was elected as the chairman of the body at the 34th annual general meeting of the body on Thursday.

Political advertising is one of the biggest categories by spends, especially during election seasons, and in the past, there have been reports of such communication influencing electoral outcomes. Some social media platforms have vowed not to take political advertisements in the US ahead of the elections. "We are an industry body and we look at only trade advertising for brands. We haven't opined on political advertising at all, that's not part of the mandate," Kamath told PTI.

When asked if he will look at amending the rules given the changing trends where political communication has become more active, he said: "I do not think that from an ASCI perspective, we would want to get into political stuff at all." He said political parties, who own the messaging that may happen to engage an advertising agency, are not members of the ASCI also and the body would like to stick to monitoring the work done by brands. To a question on spends, he said that during election time, the spends will be "pretty high".

Recently, the body tied up with a platform to monitor digital advertising as well and with that, nearly 80 per cent of the overall advertising spends will be monitored from here on, he said. Currently, the fledgling digital media accounts for 30 per cent of the advertising and the tie-up will help ensure that 2,500 platforms are monitored, he said.

He stressed that even after the creation of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), there is a role for a self-regulatory organisation like ASCI and it will continue with its work. The CCPA looks only at misleading ads, while the mandate adopted by ASCI is much wider and includes aspects such as indecent and unfair messaging by brands as well, he said.  Ketchum Sampark Managing Director N S Rajan has been elected as the vice-chairman, while Mediabrands India CEO Shashidhar Sinha has been re-appointed as treasurer, according to a statement.