Thai editorial: Time to rein in producers of dodgy commercials

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EDITORIAL
Time to rein in producers of dodgy commercials
The Nation

Consumers being treated like mugs by radio industry infested with misleading ads

BANGKOK: -- The figures are alarming. The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission has revealed that a great number of rural radio programmes have been flooded with health- and beauty-related commercials that escape official scrutiny.

Nearly 90 per cent of advertisements about health products have been found to be against the law and subsequently banned. A daily fine of Bt20,000 has been imposed on violators. Now is time for a crackdown, understandably, but long-term measures must be laid down as soon as possible.

Commercials are among the most slippery things when law enforcement is concerned. There are laws banning "over-advertising" of products but what is over-advertising anyway?

Certain drinks change the colours of your clothes like magic or turn you into a superman. Some cars are as fast as a jet fighter. There are shampoos that make your hair incredibly strong and healthy. If you use certain brands of toothpaste, you can stop worrying about bad breath for the rest of your life.

Some are for a laugh, defenders of the commercials say. And you won't seriously assume that humans can fly after watching an ad, will you?

These folks also say any clampdown on commercials would be a suppression of creativity. In addition, everybody is doing it. If one shampoo ad is taken off the air, shouldn't all soap and cosmetic commercials go as well?

Media groups' fight for advertising money will only get fiercer and that means the ethical standards of those involved can keep dropping. It's probably more worrisome in rural areas because hype flourishes there easily and they are farther away from the eyes and ears of law enforcers.

The NBTC survey found that products wrongly advertised are for everyday use or consumption. They include cosmetics, food supplements, food and drinks and medicine. A clinic was also on the list. The consumers are simply endangered. The survey was conducted on radio programmes in 10 provinces in all regions including Bangkok. There are rules to observe but over 100 products ignored one or more. If the figures reflect the reality of the whole of Thailand, it means that nearly 90 per cent of radio commercials that we hear day in and day out do not comply with regulations.

We are tempted to ask how much is wrong in the TV industry given the radio industry is infested with questionable commercials? It might be harder to escape official scrutiny on TV, but it certainly must be easier than before.

There are such things as "commercials in disguise" that feature the promotion of products by programme hosts. Such a practice does not have to get prior official permission, but if the limits are pushed it can be harmful all the same.

There are also image-promotion commercials, such insurance company representatives sticking by your hospital bed or a telecom firm's personnel guiding you through your darkest hours.

Some "feel good" commercials are really good, but the bottom line is that consumers must not be fooled into choosing the wrong product. At a time when media outlets have to compete hard to survive, it's the job of the watchdog to ensure that no line is crossed at the consumers' expense.

Consumers are getting smarter, but it is said that producers of commercials are always one step ahead of them. The thin line between telling the public what a product does and outright propaganda is always exploited. This can go on unabated, and what the NBTC has found may be just the tip of the iceberg.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Time-to-rein-in-producers-of-dodgy-commercials-30247890.html


-- The Nation 2014-11-17

[MilesofSmiles]

It's a slippery slope, however, Thais aren't ever taught to assess things critically, so what difference does it really make in the end.

I completely agree that all factual claims made advertisers should be truth, and anything that isn't should be punished.

[Somtamnication]

Let's start with AIS, TRUE, DTAC and BBB.

[jacky54]

Land of smiles was a dodgy commercial

[craigt3365]

I remember being in China a few years ago and seeing a commercial for green tea pillows. It's claim was you'd get the same benefits of drinking green tea by sleeping with these pillows. Incredible.

[ezzra]

Those fabled commercials are merely mimicking the thinking of the locals and feeding on the

mentality that money and power can buy anything and the hell with being rationality and

logics, in a country where lives evolve the beliefs in ghosts, fortune tellers and auspicious dates

all the way to the top, no wonder they're being fed with those tall tales on the telly...

[Thai at Heart]

Those fabled commercials are merely mimicking the thinking of the locals and feeding on the

mentality that money and power can buy anything and the hell with being rationality and

logics, in a country where lives evolve the beliefs in ghosts, fortune tellers and auspicious dates

all the way to the top, no wonder they're being fed with those tall tales on the telly...

Tell you what though. I will buy you a full stop for a discount if you buy a comma.

Edited November 17, 2014 by Thai at Heart

[mca]

I reckon they should rein in those commercials of some lakorn starlet eating one of those cardboard texture 5 baht wafer snacks with a face like she's experiencing a multiple orgasm. In reality the packaging looks more appealing than the product

[WitawatWatawit]

A topic I have b'tched about for 25 years - Japan supplied a lot of the technical expertise and equipment to develop the Thai advertising industry, but failed completely to instil the concepts of creativity, rationality and believability. All essential to successful advertising. There is zero creativity or conceptualising in Thai advertising - they all follow one another with the same endlessly boring ideas (mostly based on gross exaggeration). For example, how many shampoo ads do anything more than have a pretty, round-eyed, white-skinned lass tossing her oil-glistened hair into haloed strobe lamps? Seldom any variation on this tired old theme. But of course the biggest gripes are the false lifestyles and encouragement to do things like speed or act dangerously because it is what real men do. Aloso notice how males are nearly always portrayed as heroic, tough, manly figures against the adoring, idolising glances of the weaker, subjugated female. Once again, a hard core, but misleading, theme. The Thai advertising industry years ago promised to instigate and enforce ethical standards like other countries have. Guess what?

[dominique355]

We come across many cases of deceiving advertising every day, but what has become more and more frequent is ads deceiving customers about the origin of a product.

Hokkaido Milk, but it's from Thailand

Bulgaria Yoghurt made in Thailand

Greek Yoghurt also made in Thailand

Euro Cookies made on Thailand

The list is endless

[nong38]

The TV one are also dubious as well, there does not seem to be a moral standard to any of them, amazing and unbelieveable.

[jacky54]

If those much advertised whitening creams work why are so many Thai women still as brown as a monkeys bum?

[Blueyonder]

It's not just the tacky cosmetic adverts, all adverts for car sales would be banned in UK/EU as they promote dangerous driving. There's a long way to go for advertising standards but this is a country that saturates everything with advertising, and they are not going to give that up without a fight. For many it's worth paying the paltry fine to sell their goods.

[emilymat]

I reckon they should rein in those commercials of some lakorn starlet eating one of those cardboard texture 5 baht wafer snacks with a face like she's experiencing a multiple orgasm. In reality the packaging looks more appealing than the product

Yep... I remember a dietitian in the UK telling me that eating the packet on some cornflake product had more nutritional benefit!

[maidee]

hey, what do you expect from the greatest race on planet earth ?

or so they think they are

[Sviss Geez]

We come across many cases of deceiving advertising every day, but what has become more and more frequent is ads deceiving customers about the origin of a product.

Hokkaido Milk, but it's from Thailand

Bulgaria Yoghurt made in Thailand

Greek Yoghurt also made in Thailand

Euro Cookies made on Thailand

The list is endless

"The list is endless"

No it's not, it ended after 4 items.

It's not "deceiving" advertising, everyone of the items on your endless list states on it's packaging that it is manufactured in Thailand.

Edited November 17, 2014 by Sviss Geez

[Sviss Geez]

If those much advertised whitening creams work why are so many Thai women still as brown as a monkeys bum?

because not every Thai woman uses them.

[longtom]

IMO, the best you can do is to restrict the commercials:

• max 10 minutes per hour of programme
• no commercials directed at children
• only for (FDA) approved products
• no commercials denigrating a competitor´s ´product´ (the worst form of which is the horrible election ads in USA)

I sincerely believe that many of the problems in this world are created/fuelled by commercials, e.g. greed.

[Prbkk]

If those much advertised whitening creams work why are so many Thai women still as brown as a monkeys bum?

Yes, point well made but aren't monkeys' bums pink?