The End of Tobacco Advertising in India

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Tobacco advertising does more than offer nicotine high; it promises a
sophisticated lifestyle that stems merely from holding a cigarette. In
India, the advertising industry has been largely self-regulated. To
circumvent the regulations, advertisers have frequently used methods such as
"surrogate advertising" to promote such products. Surrogate advertising is
the promotion of a product, through indirect and devious means. Typically,
an advertiser would use the trademark/brand of a product for which
promotions are restricted/prohibited to promote a product the advertisement
of which is permitted. For instance, it is not unusual to find a brand
associated with cigarettes to be used to advertise a competition/event. The
advertising of socially harmful products such as tobacco and alcohol, has
been sought to be restricted by Indian lawmakers. Such prohibitions were,
however, previously limited to forms of media such as terrestrial television
and radio which were easier to regulate. With technological advances such as
satellite television and the Internet, advertisers have been finding ways to
circumvent restrictions to achieve their goals.
This article was originally published in The Economic Times (Corporate
Counsel section), on June 14, 2003.

Source:
http://www.mondaq.com/i_article.asp_Q_articleid_E_23533