Surrogate advertising: Pure Genius or Pure Evil
While flipping through TV channels or on the side of a bus, all of us have seen specimens of surrogate advertising that seem to be an inescapable annoyance. When we hear the tagline “Bolo zuban kesari,” we never think of elaichi but a more hazardous material. Apart from “mouth freshener” there are several similarly famous ad campaigns by other brands for products like “CDs” and “soda,” none of them actually advertising the goods they are showcasing. Even though the sale of liquor and tobacco is legal in India, advertising them has been completely banned since 1995. Therefore, the widespread use of surrogate advertising in India has been adopted to bypass the regulations. Historical Insight into Surrogate Advertising Despite being commonly used in India today, the origins of surrogate ads can be traced to Britain, where due to protests led by housewives, the promotion of liquor was banned. This led to liquor brands promoting fruit juices under the same name instead. In countries like Ca...