On Tuesday Virat Kohli uploaded a social media post praising the Lovely Professional University ( LPU ). Meanwhile, On Wednesday Ad regulator Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) stated it will send notice to Kohli over his post. Notably, the post uploaded by the Indian captain looked like a promotional post.
Kohli was seen tagging LUP’s official handle in his post also he used the hashtag #LPUStudentsInOlympics. Kohli’s this move was devoid of any disclosure required by ASCI’s newly launched influencer guidelines.
“ASCI will take up the issue and write to the celebrity and the advertiser for their clarifications,” said Manisha Kapoor, secretary-general, ASCI in response to Mint’s query.
Virat Kohli is the most followed personality in cricket he has 139 million followers on Instagram, 47 million followers on Facebook, and 43 million followers on Twitter. He is undoubtedly one of the most influential personalities in the world.
“India needs 10 more LPU’s” – Virat Kohli
Also, Virat defying the influencer guidelines will send a wrong message to public believes experts. Meanwhile talking about the post, he praised LPU for their contribution of Indian Olympians in the Tokyo Olympics.
“What a record, 10% of Indian Olympians are from Lovely Professional University. I hope LPU will send students to the Indian cricket team also! Jai Hind,” said Kohli.
Also, Kohli shared a promotional advertisement by LPU, which appeared in the print publication. The post included the name of 11 students who are part of the Indian Olympic squad at the Tokyo Olympics. Virat Kohli captioned the post :
“India needs 10 more LPUs. Best of luck to the 11 LPU students who are representing India at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Truly a great achievement!”
View this post on Instagram
Meanwhile, fans instantly reacted to the post shared by the Indian skipper. Many thought Kohli’s account was hacked while others believed it was just paid advertisement.
“It is critical so that it doesn’t set a bad precedence. I’ve reached out to ASCI and they said they are taking it up suo moto on their own. All other influencers and the agencies are keenly looking forward to what ASCI will do in this case or how the penalty will be imposed if there’s a penalty at all as it will set a new direction. This is the first time the rules are being implemented, we do not know how much power does ASCI have but it has to be vocal,” said Communications strategy consultant Karthik Srinivasan.
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