ARCON urges general public to report unethical, illegal advertisement
The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has urged the general public to support it’s initiative of getting rid of illegal, deceptive and unethical advertisement.
On it part, it says, a special monitoring and enforcement task force has been mandated to track advertisements across all platforms, swiftly identify and flag non-compliant advertisements.
But, such actions will produce effective results with the co-operation of the general public by reporting any advertisement which appears deceptive, unethical, illegal, and/or those with unrealistic claims/promises, the advertising regulatory authority said in a statement, signed by it’s DG, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo.
ARCON gave the position with particular concern to a recent Al-generated advertisement which uses the image and voice of the Honourable Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Mohammed Alli Pate to promote a product targeted at treating prostate cancer, weak erection and other men’s health conditions.
The advertisement according to ARCON was presented in a manner capable of misleading members of the public into believing that Prof. Mohammed Alli Pate has personally endorsed or recommended the product.
“A preliminary investigation shows that Prof. Mohammed Alli Pate’s endorsement is Al-generated. His image and voice were used with the intention to mislead the public, and also to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians,” the statement reads.
It also drew the attention of the general public of series of exposure of unapproved and unethical exposure of traditional and herbal remedy drugs advertisement on TikTok. Adding that, other similar advertisements have been monitored on Tik Tok and other social media platforms.
“ARCON would like to reiterate that the use of image, voice or identity of anyone to promote a product without proper authorization is not only unacceptable, but a crime punishable under the law”.
It therefore called on the general public to recommit to the principles of truthful, legal, decent, and responsible advertising.
“The era of false and misleading advertising, advertisement and marketing communication is over”, the statement added.
*Photo shows Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, DG, ARCON.
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