Is Amul's viral 'To Vote or Not to Vote' ad genuine? A fact check

An image purporting to show an advertisement by Amul, an Indian dairy cooperative, depicting the Amul girl with the following Hindi text: “Choose or not, make the right decision. Your voice is priceless,” is widely shared on social media platforms. The picture was shared by Kiran Bedi, former Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, on X (formerly Twitter). The post has been viewed more than 14,000 times at the time of filing this story.

The picture also received a lot of attention on Facebook. A Facebook user wrote in Hindi: “Your voice is priceless!! Truly the taste of India.”

Screenshot of claims posted online. (X/@thekiranbedi)

However, this viral advertisement is fake.

What we found

Amul termed the advertisement as “fake” and issued an official statement X act (archive here) on May 6, 2024. The statement said: “We would like to inform you that a fake message involving Amul girl is being shared on WhatsApp and social media. This ad is not created by Amul.” In this post, the name of the creator of this fake ad is mentioned as “p kanil” against whom Amul will take legal action. “He urges all voters to participate in the ongoing elections and strengthen our democracy forward this fake advertisement alert to those who shared the fake news with you (sic).”

Published in public interest by Amul pic.twitter.com/fZTgLySyZq

— Amul.coop (@Amul_Coop) May 6, 2024

Additionally, all of Amul's cartoon advertisements are available on the website (archive here) under the Amul Hits section. And despite an extensive search, we couldn't find the now-viral ad on the site.

Furthermore, Amul has released only three advertisements related to the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The first ad (Archive here) was issued during the first phase of the election on April 19, followed by a second display (Archive here) during the second phase on April 25th and the the newest (Archive here) was shared during the third phase on May 6th.

Shared advertisements during the first, second and third phases of Lok Sabha elections. (Source: Amul)

All of Amul's official advertisements carry the logo 'Amul – The Taste of India', which is conspicuously missing from the viral image. This absence raises questions about the authenticity of the image and its connection to Amul's official advertising campaigns.

Comparison of viral image and official advertisement of Amul. (Source: X/Amul)

The judgment

This viral image falsely depicts the Amul girl in the viral ad to give the impression that Amul created the ad. This ad was not created or published by Amul.

(This story was originally published by Logically Facts and republished by NDTV as part of the Shakti Collective.)