In its letter to Alan Collaco, the secretary-general of Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), Tata Sky has alleged that Airtel Digital Television’s commercial that claims a ‘superior picture quality’ is “misleading”.

Protesting against Airtel Digital’s ‘Dil Titli’ television campaign, which features actors Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, Tata Sky said that the ad portrays that the use of MPEG 4 and DVB-S2 technology results in a better picture clarity for Airtel Digital, vis-à-vis the services of rival providers.

Noting that the TV ad “falsely suggests that other platforms have inferior picture quality”, Tata Sky’s chief marketing officer Vikram Mehra said: “MPEG-4 and DVB S2 are compression standards and have no impact on video picture quality. We want to correct the myth in the minds of the consumers that MPEG-4 DVB S2 provides better picture quality than other technologies used to provide digital signals.”

However, an Airtel Digital spokesman said that the ad does not target any operator in particular. He added that the company’s claim is that its technology boasts better-quality as against ordinary technology, which includes analogue cable.

Meanwhile, in its final hearing last week, the ASCI upheld the Tata Sky complaint. Upon reviewing the ad, ASCI may either seek a modification of the ad by Airtel Digital or ask it to withdraw the campaign altogether.