On Monday, 12 October, Parle Products, the maker of the Parle-G biscuits, said that “they will not advertise their products on toxic and aggressive Indian media channels.”
This comes amid massive outrage over ‘TRP Scam’ revealed by Mumbai Police on Thursday, 8 October.
The Mumbai Police, in its press conference, said that its investigation into a complaint by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) has discovered a racket of TRP-fixing by some channels, including Republic TV.
Parle Products senior category head Krishnarao Buddha said that the company will not advertise on news channels that ‘broadcast toxic content’, Livemint reported.
Buddha also stated that the company is also exploring possibilities where other advertisers can also put a restraint on their advertising on such channels, that promote ‘toxicity’, reported Livemint.
On Thursday, 8 October, industrialist and Bajaj Auto managing director Rajiv Bajaj told CNBC TV18 that his company has “blacklisted three channels” for advertisement, as Bajaj Auto does not want to endorse “toxicity”.
Bajaj added, as per Livemint: “A strong brand is a foundation on which you build a strong business. At the end of the day, the purpose of a strong business is to also contribute to society. Our brand has never associated with anything we feel is a source of toxicity in the society.”
A media buyer told Livemint that the advertising companies have been receiving inquiries from clients since the TRP issue came to the fore.
“We are keeping a close watch on how things evolve and whether we need to re-evaluate spends on these channels,” said the media person.
Another senior executive revealed that the companies will continue to spend money on the said channels till the time inquiry isn’t completed, reported Livemint.
An anonymous executive at an automobile company said that if Republic TV is proved guilty in the said TRP scam, then the company will move to another channel, but first, the channel needs to be convicted.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Police, on Sunday, questioned Republic TV's CEO Vikas Khanchandani and others in connection with the alleged rigged Television Rating Points (TRPs) scam.
Republic TV had issued a statement soon after Mumbai Police’s briefing, saying it would file a criminal defamation case against Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh.
(With inputs from Livemint)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)