Introduction Why the theme topic is Avoiding Mis-selling of Reverse Mortgage Products?

Who will do this, a student or the Professor? My speech, if at all, is as under:We all appreciate that marketing is an innovative subject. Certain amount of puffery is inescapable in any marketing effort. Puffery is an exaggeration expressed in broad, vague, commendatory language, and is distinguishable from false representations of specific characteristics of a product and, as such, is not actionable. There is difference between legitimate expression of positive information in an ad as opposed to untrue/ misleading material. And this is what is sought to prohibited across the world. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the USA is mandated to prevent unfair competition and to prevent fraudulent, misleading, or deceptive advertising in the interstate commerce, under the Federal Trade Commission Act, 1914. In the UK the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been overseeing British advertising for about 50 years. It is funded by a small but compulsory levy on the ads, with the result it is has plenty of resources to run a highly sophisticated service. It responds to over 13000 complaints a year, in addition to proactively doing spot checks on over 6000 ads a week to see if they are in compliance with its code. It conducts an independent research on areas like the use of expletives in advertising. In India, the Government proposed in 1989 to censor advertisements. The Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) came up with a voluntary code called the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) Code which is hardly followed by its members. Out of the top 250 advertisers in India, not even 100 are members of ISA. Companies such as Reliance have never been members while other like Videocon, Raymond and Philips did not renew their membership, allegedly because of unfavorable ruling made on some of their ads. The Doordarshan Advertising Code mandates advertising should conform to the laws and not offend morality, decency and religious susceptibilities of the people. There are separate codes for the advertisement of liquor, cigarettes, etc. But these are hardly followed Membership of media organisations is particularly important for ISA, since its power ultimately comes from its ability to pursue media not to run ads that violate the Code. While some broadcasters like Star, Sony and Zee are members, others like Sahara are not. With the result, ASCI has to function with limited resources. In some cases the ISA had its wings clipped by judicial verdicts. In a case involving an advertisement by Century Plywood, a non-member, the Bombay high court ruled that ISA was not allowed to interfere with commercial activities of non members. Now, the students will organise themselves into groups on the lines indicated below and start preparing the material, on the issues indicated against each group. These and some more groups will make the final presentation. However, the entire Class will be involved in hosting the event.

The Regulator Group This group should visit the web site of the Ministries of Law and Justice and of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. The Ministry of Law should be scanned (FAQ) to see a) Are there proposals to amend the Indian Sale of Goods Act, 1930 on the lines of the British Sale of Goods Act of 1979 and later amendments? b) Why it is not doing away with the provision of Caveat Emptor with multitudes of exceptions and exceptions to exceptions? c) Whether the ministry is conscious of the developments that have taken place in the European Union with respect to protection of Consumer rights? d) Whether the Consumer Protection Act is proposed to be further amended? e) Is the government under compulsion to continue with the present trend by the MNC who claim that they are subsidising the viewing cost of TV channels with their ads? Indian Society of Advertisers ASCI- Group Search their website to find the current trend and their proposals. The Chambers of Commerce- Group Do they have a cell that lays down standards to be adopted by its members, i.e. the advertisers, the companies that advertise. The Organisation of Advertising Agencies - Group Are there any organisation for governing (voluntary or otherwise) the activities of the Advertising Agencies , who are supposed to be doing the creative work (preparing the ad copy)? There are several reports about Piyush Pande. Has he written anything in this regard? The Organisation of the Media - Group The electronic media like the CNBC TV 18 hosts several annual functions in collaboration with the print media like the Times of India, etc. and give away awards to leading personalities. What criteria they follow? Reserve Bank of India - Group Does it have any code with regard to marketing of Financial Services Products, especially home mortgage loans and home reverse mortgage loans? Indian Bankers Association - Group Have they evolved any voluntary code for advertising of reverse mortgage products? Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Have they evolved any code for advertising of reverse mortgage products in insurance sector? Indian Insurers Association - Group Have they evolved any voluntary code for advertising of reverse mortgage products in insurance sector?