ASCI to send notice to Virat Kohli for his latest post referring Lovely Professional University

It was only a few days back that Indian skipper Virat Kohli came up with a post that added that many of the athletes performing currently in Tokyo 2020 are students of Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab. In the latest turn of events, Ad regulator Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) added that they would write to Kohli regarding his post on LPU.

The post that came Kohli came up with on Instagram was not having any disclosures required by ASCI’s newly launched influencer guidelines. It felt more like a promotional campaign as Kohli tagged the social media handles of LPU and used the same hashtags. In the same turn of events, Manisha Kapoor, secretary-general ASCI added that “ASCI will take up the issue and write to the celebrity and the advertiser for their clarifications,” as quoted by The Mint.

Kohli, who boasts of having 228 million fans across various social media handles came with a post that praised the student of the same university for their efforts at Tokyo 2020. Many fans and followers stated that it looks like a paid promotion and the cricketer should have at least made a mention of it.

“What a record, 10% of Indian Olympians are from Lovely Professional University. I hope LPU will send students to the Indian cricket team also! Jai Hind,” read Kohli’s post.

Here is Virat Kohli’s post on Lovely Professional University

It has to be noted that Kohli is known as one of the most influential personalities on social media. He is also one of the highest-paid celebrity endorsers in India as well and his actions which didn’t go well in line with influencer guidelines have not set a fine example for people.

“It is critical so that it doesn’t set a bad precedence. I’ve reached out to ASCI and they said they are taking it up suo moto on their own. All other influencers and the agencies are keenly looking forward to what ASCI will do in this case or how the penalty will be imposed if there’s a penalty at all as it will set a new direction. This is the first time the rules are being implemented, we do not know how much power does ASCI has but it has to be vocal,” said Karthik Srinivasan, communications strategy consultant on the matter.