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ARTICLE · 13 MAY 2020

Rise In False And Misleading Advertisements Amidst Coronavirus Outbreak

S.S. Rana & Co.
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The outbreak of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has not only enormously disrupted human lives worldwide but has also adversely impacted several industries.

IndiaMedia, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment
Rupin Chopra
Rupin Chopra
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The outbreak of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has not only enormously disrupted human lives worldwide but has also adversely impacted several industries. As the viral attack erodes social and economic fabric of the society and creates exponential fear amongst the general public, it has been noted that several industries are promoting false and misleading advertisements to apparently capitalize on this situation of crisis by exploiting the fear of the virus in general public. For instance, recently Amazon delisted a number of products that claimed to cure novel Coronavirus for 'unapproved medical marketing claims'.1 Following Amazon's footsteps Facebook also banned all misleading advertisements for products claiming to cure Coronavirus.2 In an interesting case in India, popular soap manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser (India) Pvt Ltd which owns the brand Dettol, amidst the Coronavirus outbreak broadcasted an advertisement which indicated that washing hands with soap

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