The information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry has banned the airing of condom ads on television from 6 am 10 pm. The decision has come a couple of months after the Advertising Standards Council of India had written to the Indian ministry for governing the timings of condom ads as they were getting a lot of complaints.
This step has been taken because some of the ads were “indecent and can impact children”, evoking strong reactions from companies and advertisers. The move has been made to avoid exposure of such provoking material for children.
The ministry, in its advisory, said, “all TV channels are hereby advised not to telecast the advertisements of condoms which are for a particular age group and could be indecent/ inappropriate for viewing by children”.
Raymond Group, which also owns the famous Kamasutra brand condemned the ban by saying “not all condom advertising is indecent, we follow the ASCI’s code on advertising and subject ourselves to deep internal scrutiny,”
A spokesperson from Reckitt Benckiser, which owns Durex, said that the company will comment once it receives official communication from the ministry.
Group chairman at advertising agency FCB India, Rohit Ohri, said the I&B ministry’s decision is a “misguided reform” which is 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.
Twitter on this occasion was quick to react and they had all sort of answers. Have a look at some of the tweets below:
Trolling Patanjali for the ban
What if patanjali started making condoms?
— Animesh Chaturvedi (@animesh1804) December 11, 2017
Reason for the population growth in India
Because of this mentality, India's population has crossed 1.25 billion 😏
— Aarushi J (@aarushitweets) December 11, 2017
I am so relieved, thanks.
According to the latest statistics in India, a child is sexually abused every 15 minutes, but, at least, we've saved them from the painful terror of having to watch condom ads from 6am-10pm, I am so relieved. Thank you.
— Priya Sometimes (@PriyaSometimes) December 12, 2017
Our children deserve to know about Sex and use of Condoms, no?
No condom advertisements from 6 am to 10 pm: Smriti Irani's ministry says it is 'indecent for children'
Disagree. If @MIB_India want, they can regulate Ads, set guidelines. Why Ban? Why this Moral Policing?Our children deserve to know about Sex and use of Condoms,no?#CondomAds
— Jagrati Shukla (@JagratiShukla29) December 12, 2017
Do let us know what you think on this decision from Indian ministry.
