MS Dhoni tops list of celebrities found by ASCI to be violating advertising rules

Several celebrities including cricketer MS Dhoni and YouTuber Bhuvan Bam have been found violating advertising rules by the advertising industry's self-regulatory body, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). According to ASCI, there has been a rise in complaints against celebrities as many of them failed to provide proof of due diligence.

A massive 803 percent jump was witnessed in complaints against celebrities in FY23 to 503 ads, as against 55 in the year-ago period.

According to a report in The Free Press Journal, the ASCI report stated, "In spite of the Consumer Protection Act now legally requiring celebrities to do their due diligence when they appear in ads, in 97 percent of cases processed by ASCI featuring celebrities, they failed to provide any evidence of due diligence."

Cricketer MS Dhoni has topped the list of celebrities who have failed to do necessary due diligence with 10 counts of non-compliance, the body said. Youtuber and actor-comedian Bhuvan Bam was in the second spot with seven counts of non-compliance to his name.

In terms of sectors, gaming, classical education, healthcare and personal care were found to be the top violative categories, accounting for over half of the problematic content, the ASCI report said.

Notably, Dhoni had earlier found himself in a controversy due to an advertisement in 2013. A case was registered against the former India captain for hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus as he posed as Lord Vishnu in a business magazine. Dhoni was seen holding products of brands that he endorsed back then in his several hands and the items also included a shoe. However, the case was quashed by the Supreme Court in 2016.

CSK has a chance to finish in the top two in IPL 2023

Meanwhile, MS Dhoni is being seen at his vintage best in the ongoing IPL 2023 as he’s scored 98 runs from 13 matches at an excellent strike rate of 196. Dhoni’s fireworks with the bat have worked wonders for Chennai Super Kings as they’re ranked on the second spot in the IPL points table having 15 points to their name with seven wins and a draw from 13 matches.

A win in the last game for CSK against Delhi Capitals could see them finish in the second spot in the league stage and get another chance to qualify for the finals if they end up losing the first qualifier. However, LSG also has a chance to overtake CSK if they win their last game by a big margin and leave CSK behind on net run rate.