'Sundar Pichai' ad: ASCI chief berates UpGrad for being irresponsible
Earlier this month, the edtech company received flak for its ad with Google CEO's AI-generated likeness
Edutech firm UpGrad recently launched an ad that featured a likeness of Google CEO Sundar Pichai. While the ad refrained from using names, the copy clearly hinted at the Google chief exec. "I got a scholarship at Stanford but the travel cost too much so I didn't go," read the caption next to a picture of a commuter in the crowd, looking eerily similar to Pichai.
The company cleverly put out a disclaimer that "any resemblance to real-life individuals is purely coincidental"
While it's highly unlikely that the CEO of the world's biggest tech company may star in an ad for an Indian edutech company, ad watchers questioned the ethics of using someone's likeness in an ad without their consent.
The ad was pulled out after the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) intervened.
ASCI CEO and Secretary General Manisha Kapoor shared a detailed post on the ad, decrying the advertiser's "clever shortcuts to get noticed." Here is the complete post.
The ad has come into the crosshairs of industry watchers who pointed out the dangers of AI-generated ads and the ethical ambiguity in using them.
