Govt tells Pepsi to apologise for ‘Sushma ad’

The Health Ministry has advised Pepsico India Holdings Pvt Ltd to issue an unconditional apology and publish it in all national dailies, whe...

The Health Ministry has advised Pepsico India Holdings Pvt Ltd to issue an unconditional apology and publish it in all national dailies, where a Pepsi advertisement endorsing the product had appeared.

A letter has been sent by Joint Secretary, Deepak Gupta, in which the ministry has issued a warning of taking ‘‘further action’’ if the company does not comply. Reprimanding the company by saying that using the minister’s (Sushma Swaraj) name for promoting sales as unethical and also against advertising norms, the ministry has demanded immediate withdrawal of the advertisement.

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‘‘You are advised to withdraw the said advertisement forthwith and any other campaign of this nature you propose to launch. You are also advised to issue an unconditional apology and publish the same in the same newspapers where your advertisement has appeared,’’ the letter said.

‘‘This is without prejudice to any further action which the Government may propose to take’’, the letter reads.

The ministry was referring to the advertisement which appeared in newspapers on August 22. It had quoted Union Health Minister Sushma Swaraj saying: ‘‘All these (soft drinks) are within safety limits ’’.

Based on the endorsement, the advertisement advises the consumers to ‘refresh your faith’ and ‘don’t hold back your tastebuds’.

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The ministry has called the advertisement misleading as only one part of the ministers statement given in the Lok Sabha has been used.

‘‘The minister’s statement before Lok Sabha notes that pesticide residues have been found in all samples tested and in nine of these samples the pesticide residues were found to be above prescribed EU norms. Thus your claim that your product is conforming to EU norms is not true,’’ the letter reads.

The company on its part has agreed to withdraw the advertisement. ‘‘We had meant no offence with that ad but since the ministry has issued the letter we will comply by whatever the Government has ordered,’’ said Abhiram Seth, Executive Director, Pepsico India.