Storyboard18 Impact: Govt to ask influencers to display qualifications while endorsing health products

Government will soon make the disclosure of qualifications mandatory for social media influencers endorsing health and wellness-related products and practices. The objective is to ensure that the disclosure is clear and upfront so that consumers know that the product or service being talked about is a paid activity.

“If you are saying this food is good or bad, that this medicine is good, you must be qualified and disclose that you are qualified to say that. Otherwise, it can be majorly misleading,” Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary to the Indian government’s department of consumer affairs, has told Business Standard in an interview.

The move follows the guidelines issued by the consumer affairs department for social media influencers and celebrities involved in such endorsements.

Growth of wellness brands

The development comes days after Storyboard18 reported about how the Indian nutraceutical market has emerged as the sunshine sector where multiple direct-to-consumers (D2C) and legacy brands launch wellness products and getting influencers to promote them.

These include an array of skin or hair gummies, protein powders and collagen drinks. Influencers are speaking to a young, aspirational consumer base that wants to look and feel good.

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In an earlier interview with Storyboard18, consumer affairs ministry secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said that personal care continues to be one of the biggest violators of influencer marketing guidelines.

“One of the biggest challenges facing the space is the issue of surrogate advertisements. For instance, advertisements disguised as content or promotions. The government is working to address this issue,” he added.

An analysis by the International Trade Administration projects that by the end of 2025, India’s nutraceuticals market will be worth USD 18 billion, with dietary supplements accounting for 65 percent of the market.

Bringing accountability

Clearly, the beauty and wellness category is thriving, with new brands entering the India market. Intense competition and the need to grab consumer attention could also lead to companies making tall claims. Ad industry watchdog Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), which has started tracking influencer marketing guidelines violations, said that nutraceuticals are a subset of the food and beverage sector, and complaints about misleading advertising are addressed in the same manner as with any other industry.

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The body has processed complaints against 155 advertisements this year involving influencers who promoted goods from the nutraceutical sector between April 2022 and February 2023. Some of these violations also came from brands such as OZiva, Power Gummies, Muscle Blaze, Wellbeing Nutrition, and Fast & Up Plant Protein, among others.

Manisha Kapoor, chief executive officer and secretary general, ASCI, noted that of the 155 complaints processed, all the advertisements needed modification, adding that “125 influencers have complied with our recommendation, and the remaining will be reported to the appropriate authority."

“The nature of the violations in these complaints was lack of proper disclosure,” said Kapoor.

The government, in its new norms for influencer promotions, has already stated that social media influencers have to mandatorily disclose sponsored posts as paid content if there is a material connection between them and a brand, failing which, they can be prohibited from publishing for six months and face a penalty of Rs 10 lakh– Rs 50 lakh for a repeat offence.