mumbai the crackdown has started over union health minister anbumani ramadoss ban on surrogate advertising on traditional media by liquor and tobacco brands the first salvo has been fired with the information and broadcasting ib ministry issuing a notification to all broadcasters amending a certain section of the cable television network rules all channels were asked to stop all forms of surrogate advertising by monday march 17in his letter to the centre ramadoss had named brands like bagpiper mcdowells johnny walker haywards royal challenge and kingfisher which he said had been advertising for liquor in the guise of ads of sodas cds and mineral water liquor and tobacco brands have also been known to promote playing cards tshirts holiday packages and golf gear under the same brand namescrying foul the indian broadcasting foundation ibf has sought an audience with the ib minister to clear the vexing issue it is not just surrogate brands that are under the spotlight charges ibfs naresh chahal director finance many brands have genuine extensions like bagpiper soda which has a huge turnover and is a real product its no gimmick how does one impose a blanket ban on these products especially since they have been cleared by the central board of film certificationbrand extensions are many in the case of liquor the ub group named its airline business kingfisher after vijay mallyas popular beer brand the extension of the kingfisher brand to the airline has also ensured a huge brand recall to the original category beer in the case of cigarettes too the wills lifestyle retail outlets which deals in apparel and accessories tops the chartdoes this notification spell the end for all such brand extensions broadcasters have their say while sony is confused over the diktat and cannot decipher a genuine from a surrogate ad zee tv has maintained that it could result in a hit on revenues unless the government clarifies its standother brands under the spotlight are king cobra a beer brand which has been extended to club soda white mischief holidays red and white bravery awards and bagpiper soda last month ib minister priyaranjan dasmunsi had said that appropriate law amendments would be made to curb the menace of surrogate advertising