Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is a self-regulatory voluntary organization of the advertising industry in India. In the context of the beverage and alcohol industry, ASCI plays a central role in managing and enforcing guidelines related to surrogate advertising and alibi-marketing.

Role in Surrogate Advertising

Because India enforces strict bans on direct alcohol advertising, brands frequently market non-alcoholic extensions (such as 0.0% beer, packaged water, or music CDs) under the same master brand identity. ASCI guidelines stipulate that any surrogate product must demonstrate an independent-existence-surrogate-advertising.

This means the product must have tangible retail availability, genuine sales, and must not visually mimic alcohol packaging or utilize alcohol-related taglines. However, enforcement has historically been challenging due to the ambiguity surrounding the exact sales volume or market share required to prove a product is legitimate rather than a mere marketing loophole designed to stimulate a halo-effect for the core alcoholic product.