The Advertising Standards Council of India on Monday announced draft guidelines for social media influencer marketing, inviting public comment until March 8 on them. This follows draft guidelines from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in September last year that had some rules and restrictions on what influencers and celebrity sponsors could and couldn't do. The guidelines by ASCI essentially say: Advertising by influencers must be disclosed by picking from labels provided by ASCI. The label/disclosure must be disclosed transparently and prominently. The label must be in English, or in the language of the content; in the latter case, it must be understood by consumers easily. Blanket disclosures in "About" section or profile of influencer are insufficient. In case of images, the label should be put on top of the picture. For videos without a caption, the label must be displayed and prominent for a significant portion of the video. For audio, disclosures should be at the beginning and end of the content. Filters cannot be used for cosmetic products if they exaggerate the effects of said products. It is recommended that influencer ad contracts contain clauses on disclosure and due diligence. We spoke to ASCI Secretary General Manisha Kapoor on the guidelines. Google was a part of the team that worked on the initial draft, along with some advertisers, Kapoor said, adding that the council will now solicit comments from the government, industry, and the general public. An edited transcript of the interaction follows. MediaNama: Why have guidelines for influencers? Manisha…
