ASCI has released a long list of advertising guidelines for educational institutions and edtech players. But can they curb the menace of misleading and objectionable advertising? Well, looks like 'past record is no guarantee of future prospects'
ASCI has released a long list of advertising guidelines for educational institutions and edtech players.
Illustration: Chaitanya Dinesh Surpur
There are businesses that survive on FOMO (fear of missing out). The communication, therefore, hinges on the big ‘if’. Take, for instance, the skin whitening and fairness cream industry. Its advertisements are targeted towards teens and young adults of both genders (but largely skewed towards girls and women). The commercials, as expected, revolve around ‘if’: If you use the cream, then you will become fair; if you use the lotion and become fair, then you will become attractive to the other gender; if you use skin whitening products, then you will gain confidence, and this will have a positive rub-off on your job, personal life and marriage. The endless nuisance of ‘if’ never ends.
Then there are businesses that thrive—not just survive—on FOMO. The biggest and most inglorious example would be the business of education, and its notorious offshoot—edtech. A sea of misleading claims, fallacious advertisements making tall, exaggerated promises, and an orchestrated strategy that plays on the insecurities of parents are reasons why edtech and education have scored poorly in perception and credibility over the last few years.
Have a look. A bunch of loaded edtech startups—lead being taken by coding startups—bombard social media and television with outrageous commercials that sharply drive one message to parents: You are missing out. From ‘the next billion-dollar idea can come from your kids’ to ‘Silicon Valley is waiting for the tech geniuses’ to ‘make your child a TedX speaker’ or ‘an app developer’ to ‘two-teacher’ tuition will lead to better results, edtech startups played out every trick in the book to trick parents into a false sense of realisation that the future of their kids is in danger if they don’t use their services. No wonder, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) was swamped with complaints filed by agitated consumers. Look at the number of advertisements processed and reviewed by ASCI: From 97 in 2021-22, the numbers jumped to a staggering 214 in 2022-23.
No wonder, ASCI has released a long list of advertising guidelines for educational institutions and edtech players. This time, the effort is to sensitise advertisers and edtech players about the mental and physical wellbeing of students. Have a look at some of the dos and don’ts. An advertisement, says one of the clauses, must not portray an average or poor scorer as an unsuccessful student or a failure, or show him/her/them as demotivated, depressed or unhappy, or receiving less love or appreciation from parents, teachers or peers. Another one talks about the need to stay away from FOMO: An advertisement must not create a false sense of urgency or fear of missing out that could accentuate anxieties amongst school students, or parents.