SURROGATE ADVERTISEMENT

-A BOON OR BUST TO MARKETING

PRAJWAL S
1 MBA
BMS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
VISVESVARIAH TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
9036992208
prajwalmurthy@gmail.com
ST

&
SHIVANI KAUL
1 MBA
BMS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
VISVESVARIAH TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
9538773021
lastmystic@yahoo.com
ST

ABSTRACT
"Advertisements become information when they're in context" Advertisements have a strong
influence in our life. But many times, some firms advertise their products to circumvent a ban on
certain products to stay in competition. Such instances have been reported in the advertisements
endorsing alcoholic drinks and cigarettes.
A market survey in 2001 revealed that advertising has a direct influence on the
consumption habits of 431 million people in India and an indirect impact on 275 million
`aspirants' from the lower income group. Considering this and realizing that nearly 50 per cent of
the television owners have access to cable channels, companies choose their own path to
promote their products through brand extension. The advertisements for such new products are
placed under the category of "Surrogate Advertisements". Their only objective is to
compensate the losses arising out of the ban on advertisements of one particular product (i.e.
liquor). Other techniques used might include sponsoring community events or sports teams,
issuing public service announcements. All these activities do not violate the ban on direct
advertising but they still get consumers familiar with companys branding.
In this context we are highlighting the concepts of surrogate advertisements. This paper
also talks about how surrogate advertisements have tackled the double-faced attitude of

government as an impediment to new ventures, measures taken by government to curb such

promotions etc... As a stand point to our view, we have done a case study of a company which
has successfully ventured into surrogative advertisements. The different areas where this trend of
surrogative advertisement is fast catching up in the outlook as the social- responsible
messages.

CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION

4
2. SURROGATE ADVERTISEMENT
3. ADVERTISING STANDARD COUNCIL OF INDIA (ASCI) CODE

11
4. LEGISLATIVE MEASURES
13
5. ISSUES FOR CONCERN
14
6. MEASURES BY GOVT. TO PREVENT SURROGATE ADS ON TOBACCO AND
ALCOHOL
15
7. SUGGESTIONS FOR MEASURES TO BE TAKEN
16
8. CONCLUSION
17
BIBLOGRAPHY
18

1. INTRODUCTION
A product, service or an event is advertised in order to promote its sales or attendance.
Advertisements are a form of communication used to influence people to purchase a product or
service or support an idea. It communicates a message that includes the name of the product or
service and how that product or service could benefit the customer. It attempts to persuade
potential customers to purchase or to consume a particular brand of product.
Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of their
products or services through branding, which involves the repetition of an image or product
name in an effort to associate related qualities with the brands in the minds of the consumers.
Advertising techniques are also used to inform, educate and motivate the public about noncommercial issues, such as HIV/AIDS, political ideology, energy conservation and deforestation,
etc.
Advertising justifies its existence when used in the public interest - it is much too
powerful a tool to use solely for commercial purposes. Commercial advertising media can
include wall paintings, billboards, printed flyers and rack cards, radio, cinema and television,
web banners, web popups, bus stop benches, magazines, newspapers, town criers, sides of buses,
banners attached to or sides of airplane, in-flight advertisements, taxicab doors, musical stage

shows, railway platforms and trains, posters, and the backs of event tickets and supermarket
receipts and many more. Any place an "identified" sponsor pays to deliver their message through
a medium is Advertising.
A lot of money is spent by the company or an organization on advertising, which has
increased in recent years. In 2007, spending on advertising was estimated at more than $385
billion worldwide and is expected to exceed $450 billion by 2010. A couple of very effective
forms of advertising that are relatively low in cost are direct marketing and promotional
products. Direct marketing involves face-to-face interaction with people, whereas promotional
products can be given out to people at an event, or even involved as part of a direct marketing
campaign. Promotional products are less costly because they are most commonly purchased in
bulk.
The TV commercial is generally considered the most effective mass-market
advertising format, as is reflected by the high prices TV networks charge for commercial airtime
during popular TV events. Majority of television commercials feature a song or jingle that
listeners soon relate to the product.
Radio advertisements are broadcasted as radio waves to the air from a
transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. Airtime is purchased from a station or
network in exchange for airing the commercials. While radio has the obvious limitation of being
restricted to sound, proponents of radio advertising often cite this as an advantage.
Print advertising describes advertising in a printed medium such as a newspaper,
magazine, or trade journal. This encompasses everything from media with a very broad
readership base, such as a major national newspaper or magazine, to more narrowly targeted
media such as local newspapers and trade journals on very specialized topics. A form of print
advertising is classified advertising, which allows private individuals or companies to purchase a
small, narrowly targeted ad for a low fee advertising a product or service.
Celebrity branding advertising focuses upon using celebrity power, fame, and money,
popularity to gain recognition for their products and promote specific stores or products.
Advertisers often advertise their products, for example, when celebrities share their favorite
products or wear clothes by specific brands or designers. Celebrities are often involved in
advertising campaigns such as television or print adverts to advertise specific or general
products.
While advertising can be seen as necessary for economic growth, it should not be at social
costs. As advertising has become increasingly prevalent in modern societies, it is also
increasingly being criticized. Advertising is equated with constitutionally guaranteed freedom of
opinion and speech. Therefore criticizing advertising or any attempt to restrict or ban advertising
is almost always considered to be an attack on fundamental rights. An example for this is
advertising for tobacco or alcohol but also advertising by mail or fliers (clogged mail boxes),
advertising on the phone, in the internet and advertising for children.
Kids and adolescents are also easier to influence, so they are especially targeted by the
advertising business. Kids are expected to carry forward brand expectations and are already
accustomed to being catered to as consumers. The long term prize: Loyalty of the kid translates
into a brand loyal adult customer.
Key advertising messages exploit the emerging independence of young people.
Cigarettes, for example, are used as a fashion accessory and appeal to young people. Other
influences on young people include the linking of sporting heroes and smoking through sports
sponsorship, the use of cigarettes by popular characters in television programmes and cigarette

promotions. Research suggests that young people are aware of the most heavily advertised
cigarette brands.
The significance of advertisements can not be underestimated. But many times, some
advertisements are accused of misleading people. When such accusations are proved, some
advertisements are scrapped off from media. Such instances are mostly seen in the
advertisements endorsing alcoholic drinks and cigarettes. These advertisements were opposed
by a major section of the society. Such advertisements not only mislead people but also create a
huge amount of negative wave around the society. Foreseeing a great deal of danger, the
government of India introduced the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act 1994.
Domestically, it has led to innovative ways and methods of spending on different media for
Advertising from the companies, where companies do more of a brand building exercise than
direct advertising. Be it promotions for brand building, or sponsoring events that can be mapped
with the showbiz and glamour of the brand, advertisers dont leave many avenues to enhance
their visibility. Companies which would like to explore the Indian markets found the doublefaced attitude of the government as an impediment to their ventures and came up with a new idea
of advertising o product where the central idea embeds a brand or product message inside an
advertisement which is ostensibly for another brand or product. To have a check on these plans
by companies the Government of India imposed a ban on advertisements of these products in the
media in the year 2002. This led to the origin of a separate branch in advertising called
Surrogate Advertisement.

2. SURROGATE ADVERTISEMENT
As Leo Burnett, says, "Let's gear our advertising to sell goods, but let's recognize also that
advertising has a broad social responsibility."
We live in a complex world where we respond in extreme ways to what we view as extreme
pressures. The ethical debate rages around surrogate mothers. Yet it is difficult to deny they
perform a great service for those who use them. Closer home, surrogate advertising has been an
alternative to escape the eyes of law.
Surrogate advertising is advertising a product/brand which is created as a supplement to the
original product and has the same brand name as that of original. It relates to advertising by
duplicating the brand image of one product extensively to promote another product of the same
brand. 'Surrogate advertising' is one of the emerging ethical issues in advertising in India. This is
used as a strategy to advertise products like liquor or tobacco - the advertisement of which
otherwise, is banned in our country.
But ironically, liquor and cigarette sales are the biggest revenue generators to our country in
terms of taxes and duties on these items. Thats why an overt acceptance of the marketing in
these sectors is not legally acceptable. This has led to one of the biggest ironies of the country
Sales of these items are not banned, yet advertising on the same has strictly been prohibited. The
wisdom of the Government extends only to banning the advertising of tobacco or liquor. Not to
the manufacture or marketing of these supposedly deadly substances. It is legal to manufacture
liquor and cigarettes or beedis. It is legal to sell cigarettes at every roadside stall, even to
unsuspecting children. It is illegal to advertise it.
Surrogate advertisements took off not long ago in the UK, where British housewives protested
strongly against liquor advertisements "luring" away their husbands. The liquor industry found a
way around the ban: Surrogate advertisements for cocktail mixers, fruit juices and soda water
using the brand names of the popular liquors.

In India, the trend of surrogate advertisement gathered momentum with the Cable TV Network
Regulation Act, which prohibits tobacco and liquor advertisements on TV channels. The liquor
industry has intentionally blurred the line between products, advertising `old wine' in a `new
bottle,' only this time with a soft-drink label.
The rule says Advertisements which lead to sale, consumption and promotion of liquor should
not be allowed. So, in Surrogate Marketing, a product which is different from the main product
is advertised and has the same brand name as the main product. The product is called as
Surrogate and the advertising through this channel is called Surrogate Advertising. It may
include CDs, water, clothing, fruit juices, fashion accessories, sports goods or even events
sponsoring! This in turn help the consumers build a strong equity of the parent brand, and with
the enhanced visibility, the equity of the brand would definitely become higher.
As a reaction to the directive of Government, the liquor & tobacco majors sought other ways of
endorsing their products. They have found an alternative path of advertising through which they
can keep on reminding their liquor brands to their customers. They have introduced various other
products with the same brand name. Launching new products with common brand name is
known as brand extension, which can be carried out for related products. Their only objective is
to compensate the losses arising out of the ban on advertisements of their product. When
consumers look at these advertisements, they associate these with banned products. Hence, such
products are indirectly advertised, and therefore, influence their behavior. There is no doubt that
the hidden call for alcohol consumption behind the surrogate advertisements is not escaping the
eyes of viewers of the world's fourth highest liquor consuming country. Hence, surrogate
advertising defeats the very purpose of banning liquor advertisements.
Some of the other ways which the companies adopt are:
(a) Companies are get involved in Sponsorships of events and have launch their own awards
for
bravery
or
lifetime
achievements.
(b) Internet advertising has become a lucrative area which has so far not been much delved
into. The medium holds a lot of potential to enhance visibility, and companies have lately
realized
that. Catchy jingles have become the norm of the day to ensure that their brands
have
a
high
brand
recall.
(c) With restrictions in other marketing elements in terms of pricing and distribution,
companies have ventured into another important element Packaging. Innovative packaging
makes their brands stand out of the clutter, and most of the Multinationals are revisiting this
element in their brand portfolio.
The liquor industry is a prominent player in this game. Few surrogate advertisements shown in
print, electronic and outdoor media are - Bagpiper soda and cassettes & CDs, Haywards soda,
Derby special soda, Gilbey green aqua, Royal Challenge golf accessories and mineral water,
Kingfisher mineral water, White Mischief holidays, Smirnoff cassettes & CDs, Imperial Blue
cassettes & CDs, Teacher's achievement awards etc. These products bear exactly the same brand
name and logo, which we had seen earlier in liquor advertisements. It was little surprising to
know that liquor giants like McDowell's and Seagram's have entered into new segments like
cassettes & CDs, mineral water, sports accessories etc. Later it was found that the basic aim of
these surrogate advertisements was to promote their liquor brands like beer, wine, vodka etc.
This brand extension is an act of bypassing the advertisement ban.
A similar trend is followed by companies making Cigarettes, Paan Masala and Gutkha. Few
examples of surrogate advertisements in this category are - Red & White bravery awards, Wills
lifestyle, Four Square white water rafting, Manikchand awards etc. Though a ban has been

imposed on advertisements endorsing tobacco products, this industry has resorted to surrogate
advertising a few years ago. The Health Ministry has recently implemented the tobacco control
legislation which will imply a complete ban on advertisements and all direct & indirect
promotional campaigns for tobacco products.
Pharmaceuticals are another product with advertising restrictions. Historically, pharmaceutical
companies were not allowed to advertise prescription medications at all. Once this regulation
was relaxed, some restrictions were left in place. Using surrogate advertising allows companies
to get around regulations. For instance, the manufacturer of an asthma medication might sponsor
informational commercials about managing asthma, with the medication branding scattered
throughout the advertisement to get consumers used to the brand and to imply that the
medication plays an important role in managing asthma.
The very idea of surrogate advertisement is soon catching up among the politics side with the
name Surrogate Political Advertising. There have been two TV commercials released by
"NGOs" during the recent elections to the Lok Sabha, one that appears to debunk the BJP and the
other, a rather well thought out effort that seeks to portray the Congress in a poor light. Neither is
released by the respective political parties, who have no doubt very righteously denied any hand
in their release.
According to the Cable Act under the Ministry Of Information And Broadcasting- "No
broadcaster is permitted to show an advertisement which promotes directly or indirectly, sale or
consumption of cigarettes, tobacco products, wine, alcohol, liquor or other intoxicant."
According to ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India), surrogate advertisements are
harmful. Now a new clause has been added under the act stating that- any advertisement for a
product that uses a brand name which is also used for cigarette, tobacco product, wine, alcohol,
liquor or any other intoxicant will not be permitted. Finally, in April 2005, the ministry resorted
to a ban on surrogate advertisements of liquor and tobacco products on television.
The motivations of firms look even more suspect when they advertise products that cannot be
bought. In 2002, for example, Jagatjit Industries, the maker of Aristrocrat Whisky, advertised a
product called `Aristrocrat Apple Juice.' The companies reportedly confirmed availability of the
fruit juice in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, yet, no reputed shop in Delhi had ever seen
it, let alone sell it. Understanding the gravity of the situation, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation
(IBF) has started to take on the surrogate liquor advertisements. In a recent board meeting, the
IBF decided that Jagatjit Industries and other liquor manufacturing units must get production of
the advertisement approved both at the `storyboard stage' and after the production of the
commercial.
It also ruled that that if liquor companies promote any juice, mineral water or soda, these should
be shown in a proper manner and not as trimmings to liquor advertisement.
Surrogate advertisements are not only misleading, but also false and dishonest in many cases.
With surrogate advertising so widespread, this is the moment to tackle the problem head-on.
There should be stringent regulatory measures to curb the practice, such as:
1) Making transparent laws banning surrogate advertisements for different products under
a single brand name, by amending the Trade Marks Act;
2) Enabling the Advertising Standards Council of India to take action against false and
misleading advertisements, and keep a close vigil over clever misuse of the law;
3) Asking the electronic and print media to adhere to the advertisement codes and not to
encourage surrogate advertisements;

4) Calling on the ASCI address complaints received from consumers against surrogate
advertisements and take appropriate actions immediately;
5) Creating a consumer awareness programme to help people understand the negative
impact of surrogate advertisements;
6) Adopting strict laws to penalise those companies featuring surrogate advertisements
without any real existence of the product
7) Requiring advertising agencies to have full knowledge of the products under the same
brand for which they are promoting advertisements, and taking legal actions against those
agencies which design surrogate advertisements.

3. Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) code:

ASCI are a voluntary self-regulation council, registered as a not-for-profit Company
under section 25 of the Indian Company Act. Its formed to safeguard against the indiscriminate
use of advertising for the promotion of products which are regarded as hazardous to society or to
individuals to a degree or of a type which is unacceptable to society at large.
Section 6 of the said code states: Advertisements for products whose advertising is prohibited or
restricted by law or by this code must not circumvent such restrictions by purporting to be
advertisements for other products the advertising of which is not prohibited or restricted by law
or by this code. In judging whether or not any particular advertisement is an indirect
advertisement for product whose advertising is restricted or prohibited, due attention shall be
paid to the following:
a. Visual content of the advertisement must depict only the product being advertised and not
the prohibited or restricted product in any form or manner.
b. The advertisement must not make any direct or indirect reference to the prohibited or
restricted products.
c. The advertisement must not create any nuances or phrases promoting prohibited products.
d. Interpretation: It specifically prohibits surrogate advertising and lays down guidelines
which qualifies it to be so, namely
i. Whether the legal product under a tobacco brand, sought to be advertised, has
been produced in reasonable quantities or not.
ii. Whether in the disputed advertisement, there are any direct/indirect clues to
the promotion of the restricted product i.e. tobacco or not.
The Prohibition of Publication or Telecast of Vulgar, Obscene and Surrogate
Advertisements and Re-mix songs by Print and Electronic Media Bill, 2004:
Though the bill hasnt yet seen the light of the day, the broad framework has been laid down by
the legislature and given to the executive to frame the details under delegated legislation. It was
initiated to provide for total ban on the publication of surrogate advertisements showing
substitutes of products, particularly of liquor and tobacco products by magazines, newspapers,
etc. and telecasting of surrogate advertisements so as to protect the Indian culture and values.
For the first time, a legal definition of surrogate advertisements has been attempted through
Section 2(d), which states: an advertisement which shows a substitute product in the guise of
the real one which otherwise cannot be legally advertised through the print and
electronic
media.
Section 3 prohibits the publication by print media and telecasting of surrogate advertisements
and provides that violators of the said provisions shall be punished accordingly.

4. Legislative Measures
The Cigarettes & Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of advertisement and

regulation of trade and commerce, production, supply and distribution) Act, 2003: This Act
was enacted to implement measures to ensure that effective protection is provided to nonsmokers from involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke and to protect children and young people
from being addicted to the use of tobacco.
It was also considered expedient to prohibit the consumption of cigarettes and other tobacco
products which are injurious to health with a view to achieving improvement of public health in
general as enjoined by article 47 of the Constitution;
Section 3(a) of the said act defines advertisement as including: any visible representation by
way of notice, circular, label, wrapper or other document and also includes any announcement
made orally or by any means of producing or transmitting light, sound, smoke or gas
Interpretation: Surrogate advertisements clearly come under the definition as it involves
making the tobacco labels clearly visible to people through other products by the same name.
Moreover the public is always reminded orally of the tobaccos brand name through the
advertisements of such other products. So such advertisements are liable to be a subject matter of
this Act and therefore subject to its restrictions.
Section 5(1) of the Act states: No person engaged in, or purported to be engaged in the
production, supply or distribution of cigarettes or any other tobacco products shall advertise and
no person having control over a medium shall cause to be advertised cigarettes or any other
tobacco products through that medium and no person shall take part in any advertisement which
directly or indirectly suggests or promotes the use or consumption of cigarettes or any other
tobacco products.
Section 5(3) of the Act states: No person, shall, under a contract or otherwise promote or agree
to promote the use or consumption of:
(a) Cigarettes or any other tobacco product; or
(b) Any trade mark or brand name of cigarettes or any other tobacco product in exchange
for a sponsorship, gift, prize or scholarship given or agreed to be given by another
person.
Demerit: This section restricts advertisement, promotion of tobacco products for direct/ indirect
pecuniary benefit. It is narrow since it doesnt take within its ambit the scope of promoting
tobacco through brand extension and sponsorships.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare made certain amendments to the above act in
2005, stating that the word indirect advertisement mentioned in Section 5(1) would mean:
The use of a name or brand of tobacco products for marketing, promotion or advertising other
goods,
services
and
events;
The marketing of tobacco products with the aid of a brand name or trademark which is known
as, or in use as, a name or brand for other goods and service;
The use of particular colors and layout and/or presentation those are associated with particular
tobacco
products;
and
The use of tobacco products and smoking situations when advertising other goods and
services.
Merit: Its a comprehensive definition and the amendment has taken care of the legal lacuna
pointed out above.

5. Issues for concern:

In a significant policy shift, the government has in principle decided to permit non-liquor and
non-tobacco advertisements of Kingfisher and Wills brands on TV channels. This is despite the
fact that the Cable TV Network Rules, 1994 Rule 7(2) (viii) prohibits direct or indirect

consumption, sale or production of cigarettes, tobacco products, wine, alcohol, liquor or other
intoxicants.
Recently, the Information and broadcasting ministry has assured the people that all surrogate
advertisements would soon be barred from appearing in any form of media and stricter measures
of surveillance to identify such advertisements would be put in place. Manufacturers further
reduce the chances of young people failing to get the message by sponsorship of sports teams
and events and music concerts having particular appeal to the young.

6. Suggestions for measures to be taken

1. Amendment to Cable Television Act made under Networks (Amendment) Rules,

2006:
No advertisement which violates ASCI standards are to be allowed. But it has been noticed
that despite legislations aiming at direct prevention of surrogate advertisement, no strict
adherence could be observed as is evident in the ITC case above. Providing teeth to the
ASCI to enable it to take action against false and misleading advertisements and keeping a
vigil over close evasion of law is a step to be taken.
2. FCTC
(Framework
Convention
on
Tobacco
Control):
It is a convention developed by World Health Organization (WHO) as a model to be
adopted by any country desirous of enforcing strict anti-tobacco rules within its domain.
Article 13 of the convention talks about tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship: It
provides that even if the constitution doesnt permit a comprehensive ban on tobacco
advertising,
it
can
resort
to
other
ways
too
like:
1.
Prohibiting advertisements which create an erroneous impression on
consumers.
2.
Restrict use of direct/indirect incentives encouraging public use of tobacco.
3.
Restrict
media
advertising
in
a
period.
4.
Restrict
tobacco
sponsorships
of
public
events.
India can follow the detailed guidelines with respect to surrogate advertisements given in
this convention. In 2001, Indian Tobacco Company (ITC) had voluntary withdrawn the
Wills Sports sponsorship of the Indian cricket team when the Government had first
proposed a ban on advertising through legislation.
3. Other Methods: Measures may also be considered to ensure that brand names or logos of
tobacco products are not visible, even if such brands support international events.
Making transparent laws banning surrogate advertisements for different products
under a single brand names, for instance by amending the Trade Marks Act;
Calling on the ASCI address complaints received from consumers against surrogate
advertisements and take appropriate actions immediately;
Creating a consumer awareness programme to help people understand the negative
impact of surrogate advertisements;
Adopting strict laws to penalize those companies featuring surrogate advertisements
without any real existence of the product;
Requiring advertising agencies to have full knowledge of the products under the
same brand for which they are promoting advertisements, and taking legal actions
against those agencies which design surrogate advertisements.
Bans against surrogate advertisement should also spread its net to include the new
electronic media like the Internet, e-mail, pagers and CD-ROMS, print and outdoor
media, asking them to adhere to advertisement codes and not encourage surrogate

advertisement.
Youth led campaigns appealing the government for a comprehensive ban on tobacco
advertising through NGOs such as HRIDAY (Health Related Information
Dissemination Amongst Youth)-SHAN (Student Health Action Network), created a
supportive environment to enforce tobacco control measures. These examples show
that role of NGOs should be recognized and they should be given more autonomy to
work on such issues.

7. Measures by Govt. to prevent surrogate ads on tobacco and alcohol

In a bid to prevent surrogate advertising of alcohol and tobacco products on television,
government has tabled a paper in Parliament to implement various provisions to this effect.
The governments move is aimed at implementing the provisions incorporated in the Cable
Television Network Rules 1994 to prevent surrogate advertisements of alcohol and tobacco
products on TV.
Introduced by Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni in both Houses of Parliament
on 10 of June, the paper suggests that if a product that uses a brand or logo, which is also used
for promoting cigarettes and tobacco products, then the visual of the advertisement should depict
only the product being advertised and not prohibited products in any form or manner.
The paper, citing the proposed rules in connection with the matter, also says that advertisement
must not make any direct or indirect reference to the prohibited products. In addition, the
advertisement must not contain any nuances or phrases promoting prohibited products, and also
the commercial must not use situations typical for promotion of prohibited products when
advertising other products.
The above mentioned rules were issued through a Gazette notification by the ministry on
February 27 this year, and were included in the existing provisions of the Cable Television
Network Rules 1994, titled as Cable Television Network Rules 2009.
th

8. Conclusion
The central issue of the ethical discussion in the present study is regarding the attitude of targeted
consumers towards the practice of surrogate advertising vis--vis their psychographic profile
towards advertising in general. The psychographics of the target audience are important since
they are the final evaluators of advertising. The study concludes that surrogate advertising is not
perceived positively by the various sections of the society. Though there were some positive
perceptions found for this practice, on the whole, the attitude of most of the targeted consumers,
i.e., the respondents were more dominating towards the negative side for the surrogate
advertising and they consider it to be an unethical practice. The ethical perception of the targeted
consumers affect the acceptability of surrogate advertisements and hence, the attitude of the
consumers towards it, with majority of these consumers considering it as immoral and unethical.
The implications thus, are left for the advertisers to modify and redesign their advertising
strategies in accordance to the consumer psychographics, so that they can find a way out which
is more ethical and positive for the society or their target market rather than resorting to
surrogate advertising.

BIBLOGRAPHY:
Pradeep S. Mehta, The Hindu Business Line, dated May 23, 2003.
Ramesh Narayan, The Hindu Business Line, dated April 08, 2004.
Prof. Jitendra K. Sharma, Lecturer-MBA, Shri R.G.P. Gujarati Professional Institute,
Surrogate Advertisements: A Case of Proxy War, Source: e-mail March 06, 2006.
Rishi Raj Sharma & Subhash Chander, Guru Nanak Dev University, Consumer

Psychographics and Surrogate Advertising: An Application of Multiple Discriminant

Analysis, The ICFAI Journal of Consumer Behavior, Vol. 2I, No. 5, pp. 25-47, December
2007.
Marketing Management Case Studies, ICFAI University, Banning Liquor Surrogate
Advertising.
18