ASCI Disclosure Rules: What Brands Must Get Right

Disclosure is the compliance question brands ask about least and get wrong most. This is a summary for practitioners, not legal advice — take advice on your specific campaign.

The core principle

If there is a material connection between a brand and whoever is promoting it, the audience must be told, clearly and upfront. A material connection is not only cash. It includes free product, discounts, trips, hospitality, equity and family relationships.

Barter is a material connection. Gifting is a material connection. "We just sent them a sample" is a material connection.

What a compliant disclosure looks like

Upfront. Visible without the user tapping "more", scrolling, or watching to the end. A label buried at the end of a caption does not qualify.

Plain. Terms like "advertisement", "ad", "sponsored", "paid partnership" or "collaboration" work. Ambiguous tags such as "sp", "collab", "thanks to" or a brand mention alone do not.

In the content, for video. For a Reel or a video, the disclosure needs to be part of the content — superimposed text or spoken — not only in the caption. For live content it should be repeated periodically.

In the audience's language. A Hindi disclosure on Tamil content does not satisfy the requirement that it be readily understood.

Liability is shared

Both the advertiser and the endorser carry responsibility. A brand cannot outsource the risk by saying the creator handled their own posts. If you paid for it, you are exposed.

Claims need substantiation

Beyond disclosure, an endorser should have adequate backing for objective claims made — particularly around health, efficacy and results. "Cleared my skin in seven days" is a claim, and someone has to be able to support it.

Categories with additional restrictions in India include alcohol, tobacco, real money gaming and certain financial and health products. Assume extra scrutiny.

Making it operational

Do not rely on creators knowing the rules. Most do not.

• Put the exact required label in the brief, in the campaign language
• Make disclosure a condition of payment
• Check every deliverable before it is approved
• Keep a record of the approved post as published
• Keep substantiation for any claim in the creative

Why this matters commercially

Beyond regulatory exposure, undisclosed advertising damages the thing you are buying. Creator trust is the asset. Audiences that later realise a recommendation was paid and concealed discount everything that creator says afterwards — including your competitor's next campaign with them.