#AskPS
Nutrition
Are companies using "Vocal for Local" tag illegally?
Rajesh Garg .

My Protein is Europe based Fitness brand that sells Protein supplements.

All the supplements are manufactured in Europe, they are imported and sold in India!

Now recently it has started to sell a high protein dosa mix whose ingredients are sourced from India and they are marketing it in the name of Vocal for Local!


Would this be counted as Vocal for Local? If Not, Isn't it unethical to do something like this from such a big brand?

Originally Posted Here
22 Comments

Piyush Soni 

My protein is not a Indian company. So yeah definately, it is unethical on their part to sell it as Vocal for local!!

Rajesh Garg

Yeah definitely that's what I was also thinking doing such a big blunder is not expected from such a big name!

Arsh Raina

They're adapting their product to the Indian market, so it is still local in a way. Just not in the way you want it to be.

Rajesh Garg

But is Vocal for local saying justified here?

Arsh Raina

Yes why not?

Ratnesh Karbhari 

Vocal for Local "recipes" , recipes is silent here

Rajesh Garg

Then it should brand accordingly as local recipes from India. Not as Vocal for Local!

I think They don't get the meaning of Vocal for local

Ratnesh Karbhari 

ag konsa trend ho rha h🤪to wahi dal dia ye log ne...

Nihal Hassan

I’d so do that, as a marketer. I mean people are falling for everything these days.

Rajesh Garg

No doubt about the product. It is fantastic but the way that are marketing it these days is not good

Nihal Hassan

We aren’t building great products either.

Mahi Mk

Grey area. Since Vocal for Local is not defined legally they can do this and claim that it is not unethical as they are sourcing the ingredients locally. That is why customers need to look at the fine print and try to learn more about brands they want to engage with, if they really care for a cause.
This way we should also be calling celebrity endorsements for most brands as unethical.

Rajesh Garg

Yeah correctly said

Surender T Natarajan

If they are sourcing and manufacturing in India,they can claim as such that . They might be brand from any country.

Rajesh Garg

But isn't Vocal for Local is for Indian companies. I think that's what it meant

Surender T Natarajan

The motive was to improve Indian product consumption, employment, and overall improvement of the Indian ecosystem. In the case of only Indian brands, then they can use cheap Chinese finished materials and just brand as Indian products, which defeats the purpose.

Karan Modi

A few quick things to note, the GOI itself initially projected a similar take on Vocal for Local (VFL) as yourself and then took a U-turn when asked about the impact on FDI by then "clarifying" that Vocal for Local means using FDI to Make in India forIndians.

Who defines what VFL means? Since it's neither a certification nor an award, the brand mentioned is well within their right to leverage it for their own marketing.

A larger hypothetical question - With reference to sales in India, if an Indian brand employs foreign workers to manufacture goods/services overseas is compared with an international brand that employs Indians to manufacture goods/services, which one is (more) VFL?

Durgaprasad Mujumdar

Depends, would you classify HUL selling shampoo as eligible for vocal for local?

Priyank Dhyani

I have imported their whey once. It's very cheap and good. Even after import duties it was much less than other brands sold in India.
Milk based whey is a by-product of cheese making I guess, and thus makes sense that it will be cheaper in countries with high consumption of cheese.
We should not stop trade with friendly countries. Globalization helps everyone.

Baba Mitra

If it's legal, then they should go ahead and do it. Ethicality is different for different people.

Shivam Malhotra

Till its legal,its cool🙂even if someone takes them to court they can say that they just used a popular hashtag!

Sandeep Goud

Are there any Guidelines in regards to using Vocal for Local?

Is it a trademark?

As long as it is just a phrase, aren’t they allowed to interpret?

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