Curbing Surrogate Advertising Demands Due Diligence to Avoid Regulatory Overreach

Gist The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration FDA has initiated regulatory action against celebrity endorsers for allegedly promoting surrogate advertisements for tobacco brands. This move enforces the "endorser liability" principle established by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 , compelling public figures to conduct strict due diligence before lending their credibility to controversial brands. For civil services aspirants, this development illustrates the tension between public health objectives, corporate marketing loopholes, and the legal challenge of penalizing deceptive advertising without committing regulatory overreach. Background - Mechanism of Surrogate Advertising: This is a deceptive marketing strategy where a company promotes a restricted or banned product like tobacco or liquor indirectly by advertising a legally permitted proxy product like packaged water or cardamom using the identical brand name. - Statutory Prohibition: The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act COTPA expressly forbids both direct and indirect advertising of tobacco products to discourage consumption and protect public health. - Historical Impunity: Before recent legal reforms, celebrity endorsers routinely avoided liability for misleading or surrogate campaigns by claiming total ignorance of the manufacturer's underlying commercial motives. -…