No child's play: Condom ads banned from 6 am to 10 pm in India

NEW DELHI/ AHMEDABAD: The government has prohibited television channels from airing advertisements for condoms any time in the day till 10 pm since some of the commercials were indecent and can impact children evoking strong reactions from companies and advertisers. The information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry in an advisory issued to all television channels on Monday said advertising for condoms will only be allowed between 10 pm and 6 am. Some channels carry ads of condoms repeatedly which are alleged to be indecent specially for children it said. ET has seen a copy of the advisory. Citing the Cable Television Network Rules the ministry said advertisements that endanger the safety of children or create in them any interest in unhealthy practices shall not be carried. The move it said was to avoid exposure of such material to children and to ensure strict adherence to the provisions . Any failure will attract action it said. Raymond Group which owns the KamaSutra brand of condoms condemned the blanket ban saying not all condom advertising is indecent . We follow the ASCI s code on advertising and subject ourselves to deep internal scrutiny a company spokesperson said. Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is a self-regulatory organisation of the advertising industry. Indecent advertising whether from condom category or otherwise should be subjected to greater self-regulation the Raymond spokesperson said. MISGUIDED REFORM Rohit Ohri group chairman at advertising agency FCB India said the I&B ministry s move is a misguided reform triggered by the Sunny Leone ad for Manforce condom. If the Sunny Leone advertisement is offensive we should ban that advertisement and not regulate all condom advertising he said. Ohri said that to protect children from being unhealthy influences it s better to focus on education. Creating taboos is not the answer. Creating healthy discussion is he said and called for introducing sex and birth control education in senior school. The world over condom advertising is being deregulated to prevent teenage pregnancies. It is now being widely recognised as the need of the hour Ohri said. Recently ASCI had sought suggestions from the I&B ministry on whether it would be possible to restrict telecast of condom advertisements with explicit sexual content to between 11 pm and 5 am which is outside of what is considered as family time viewing. TRADERS PROTEST In September Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) had raised a hue and cry against an outdoor campaign of Mankind Pharma s Manforce condom in Gujarat during the Navratri festival. The traders body championed the cause of culture and religion during the protests that forced Mankind Pharma to withdraw nearly 500 hoardings across the state. CAIT has welcomed the I&B ministry s latest move since such ads often violate our social values and have an adverse impact of growing children especially teenagers . Condom ads presently are being shown in a vulgar manner which can t be accepted by civil society a CAIT spokesperson said. Even brand ambassadors should also be made accountable and responsible for such ads which they endorse. A spokesperson for Reckitt Benckiser makers of Durex condom said the company will comment once it receives official communication from the ministry. Durex is a reasonably big advertiser on prime time television channels and had recently roped in actor Ranveer Singh as the face of the brand.
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