ASCI To Send Notice To Virat Kohli Over Lovely Professional University Promotional Posts

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has found himself in a bit of an unsettled position after a promotional post to praise the Lovely Professional University (LPU) and its contribution to the Olympics. Virat Kohli tagged LPU’s official social media handles and used hashtags #LPUStudentsInOlympics, which appeared devoid of any disclosure required by ASCI’s newly-formulated influencer guidelines. As a result, ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India) will write a note to the 32-year old regarding the same.

Virat Kohli is undoubtedly one of the most influential cricketers of the decade and the most followed Indian cricketer today. The 32-year old boasts of over 228 million followers on Instagram and Facebook. The right-handed batsman shared a promotional advertisement by LPU that appeared in the print publication along with a list of 11 students, who are part of the Indian Olympic squad.

“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,” wrote Virat Kohli on Twitter

The post on Twitter created a buzz among social media users and predicted the cricketer’s account being hacked. On the other hand, a few others felt, Kohli should have used ‘paid promotion’ tag on the past as it looked like an ad. Kohli, whose reputation is as a significant influencer too, is believed to have set a wrong precedence for others, according to some experts.

Communications strategy consultant Karthik Srinivasan comments on the incident:

Karthik Srinivasan, a communications strategy consultant, revealed he reached out to the ASCI and they are taking up the matter. Srinivasan said the media is keen to know what action the ASCI would take on this matter. Since, the rules will come into play for the first time, they are unsure of the sanctions or penalties.

“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,” Srinivasan said as quoted by Live Mint.

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