Berger Paints making a mockery of clean feed policy; Kareena Kapoor on national television!
Brands flouting Nepal’s law is no new news. Whether it is alcoholic beverage running advertisements running advertisements in spite of restriction on promotion and advertisement of alcoholic beverages, or Multinational corporations(MNCs) running dubbed TVC ads in Nepalese national media, making mockery of Nepal’s rule of Nepal has become routine business. Berger Paints has recently been running a dubbed advertisement with a Bollywood star, Kareena Kapoor, in Nepalese TV channels.
Clean Feed Policy clearly states that brands are completely prohibited from using foreign actors or dub an existing foreign ad in Nepali to promote their products in the Nepalese market. This rule was enacted with an objective to foster advertising and marketing industry in Nepal. As an added bonus, this move was expected to bolster the value of Nepalese celebrity endorsements. However, as we can see clearly MNCs like Berger Paints has made a laughing stock of our country’s law.
There are three serious issues that this case highlights:
Shamelessness of Indian MNCs
First, it highlights the shamelessness of multinational companies, especially from India. Whether you talk about the case of United Telecom(UTL) refusing to pay tax, or Berger paints now broadcasting a foreign ad in Nepalese media, Indian MNCs have a tradition of giving total disregard to Nepal’s rules and regulations.
Lack of governmental enforcement
Second, it highlights our government’s ineptitude in enforcing the laws that it passes. Whether it is Berger paints flouting Nepal’s clean feed policy, or alcoholic beverage brands openly advertising their products, government seems to be totally incapable of enforcing laws that are in itself still wanting for more.
Shamelessness of Nepalese media
Third, and most importantly, is the shamelessness of Nepalese media. As a Nepalese media channel, AP1 TV, for example, should be focused on fostering Nepalese industry. However, as long as it gets ad revenue from these MNCs, Nepalese media have no qualms broadcasting what is otherwise criminally liable advertisements.
There was great enthusiasm in the marketing industry when the clean feed act ( Advertisement Regulations Act, 2019) was enacted and ‘implemented’ on October 2019 finally after a lot of pushback from cable operators, Indian MNCs and lobbyists. Implementation of this act should have fostered creativity within the budding marketing sector while at the same time create jobs for Nepalese actors and technicians. However, we are still seeing foreign brands running dubbed advertisements in Nepalese media.
It is disheartening that there are lobbyists in the garb of unions/institutions in every sector in Nepal that are mostly corrupt. Sometimes, we hear lies from our institutions, which claim that alcohol and tobacco restrictions in Nepal are tougher than global standards. Sometimes, we see them actively lobbying against clean feed policy, when in fact clean feed policy is an international norm.
Had Berger Paints been a small Indian brand trying to establish a foothold in Nepal, we could have understood that the brand cannot afford to create separate ads in our market. And maybe, Nepal government should do further study on further fine tuning the act to better accommodate all sorts of Indian/ foreign investments in Nepal, based on their net worth.
However, Berger Paints is a giant that pays millions to Bollywood stars to endorse their product. They spend millions providing jobs to Indian technicians and workers involved in the creation of the ad. So, they have no excuse running a foreign ad except for that they simply don’t care about our laws, advertising agencies or even customers! After all, wouldn’t you rather have our dear young Mr. Rajesh Hamal endorse this product instead of Kareena Kapoor?
