By ANUSHREE BHATTACHARYYA
Indiantelevision.com Team

(23 August 2008 4:00 pm)

NEW DELHI: The 'Axe Dark Temptation Deodorant' advertisement that was termed as "indecent, vulgar and repulsive" by the I&B ministry is expected to pulled out television channels by Monday, 25 August.

The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has been asked by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to advise its members to discontinue the 'Axe Dark Temptation Deodorant' advertisement.

The decision was made by the ministry late on Friday, 22 August.

Says IBF president Jawahar Goel, “The I&B ministry has sent us a letter advising to discontinue the advertisement. We have forwarded the letter to all IBF members. Though we may not agree with government, we have done our work of passing the information to the rest of the broadcasters."

In addition, the ministry has also requested the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to provide details of complaints received and action taken by its Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) if any, against the ad.

“A few days back we had received complaints about the 'Axe Dark Temptation Deodorant' ad and we have written a letter to Hindustan Unilever, the manufacturer of Axe deodorant asking for an explanation. Even in the past, ASCI we have had complaints on Axe deo commercials,” said ASCI secretary general Alan Collaco.

As an interim measure, ASCI has been requested to advise the advertiser to refrain from airing the ad pending the CCC's decision.

The fate of the said advertisement will be decided by the CCC in a meeting scheduled to be held in September 2008.