Flush with funds, BJP beats Netflix and Trivago in TV advertisement splurge
NEW DELHI: If proof was needed that the Bharatiya Janata Party is flush with funds, here it is: the Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC)’s latest data shows that the BJP was the top advertising brand in television in the 46th week of 2018. With 22,099 advertisement insertions during the week November 10-16, the BJP was at number one, beating Netflix with 12,951 and Trivago at 12,795 insertions.
Santoor Sandal and Turmeric with 11,222 insertions and Dettol Liquid Soap with 9,487 occupied the fourth and fifth slots. Amazon Prime Video was in the ninth slot with 8,031 insertions. The other advertisers which featured in the top 10 are Wipe, Colgate dental cream, Dettol toilet soaps and Roop Mantra Ayur face cream.
The BARC comes out with a list of 10 advertisers, brands and channels on a weekly basis. The BJP’s coffers have been swelling ever since the party came to power at the Centre. According to an Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) report released earlier this year, the BJP declared the highest total income of Rs 1034.27 crore during 2016-17. The Congress was a distant second, with a declared income of Rs 225.36 crore, the ADR said.
Reacting to the BARC report, the BJP tweeted from its official handle: “Media peddles fake news about BJP becoming the top advertiser on television (sic).” A senior party functionary said “the BJP is the largest political outfit in the world, leading the country of a billion plus. The Congress has been reduced to the status of a regional political outfit thus there’s no national political party with which the BJP could be compared on advertisement spending,” the senior party leader added.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said, “They need to find out what this means in monetary terms, how much money has the BJP been spending on advertising in these elections. The Election Commission must take cognisance of its impact on probity and integrity of the elections.”