DNA Edit: Stars, watch out!

It used to be easy money for celebrities. Appearing for print advertisements and television commercials, without bothering to ascertain the genuineness of the products they were endorsing, the stars made hay while the sun shone (read, as long as they dominated popular psyche). All that is set to change with the element of accountability woven into the draft Consumer Protection Bill, 2017, which is likely to be cleared by the Cabinet soon. 

Now pleading ignorance isn’t a credible alibi because the government is bent on cracking the whip on product campaigns that are false or misleading and violate consumer rights. The proposed Central Protection Authority will practice graded punishment — beginning with a Rs 10 lakh fine, and higher fines for subsequent contraventions, which can go up to Rs 50 lakh. A ban for up to three years will also be considered as a deterrent. 

The bill doesn’t spare the advertisers and publishers of such ads either as a penalty of up to Rs 10 lakh is proposed for them. The measure will go a long way in ensuring the well-being of an overwhelming number of Indians who consider celebrity-speak as gospel truth. Dazzling them, luring them to buy overpriced, substandard products is child’s play for advertising and marketing agencies in a country where the laws are lax, and movie stars, cricketers and soap actors enjoy disproportionate importance. 

This gullibility is not restricted to people without education because the well-heeled and well-informed, consumed by the same celebrity culture, can be astonishingly blind. Given the scope of the new bill, manufacturers and retailers should now take it upon themselves to enable buyers to make informed decisions. A genuine product will stay, even if the price is on the higher side.