What is Surrogate Advertising?

The literal meaning of ‘Surrogate advertising' is copying the brand image of one product to promote another product of the same brand. It can be defined as the strategy used by manufacturers and advertisers to promote a product surreptitiously, the advertisement of which, is banned by the law of the land. Liquor and tobacco companies often advertise their products in this clandestine manner.
In India an attempt has been made to prevent the electronic media from advertising harmful products.
Thus, Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, (CTNRA), Rule 7(2)(viii)(A) of the Advertising Code states that "no advertisement shall be permitted which promotes, directly or indirectly, the production, sale or consumption of cigarette, tobacco products, wine, alcohol, liquor or other intoxicants."
Many companies have worked around this rule by bringing out soda, glasses, and fruit juice, playing cards and what not, by the same name to promote the brand. This is known as "Brand Extension" in advertising lingo. Some say that genuine "Brand Extension" is different from surrogate advertising.   But many people believe this to be a fraudulent approach garbed in politically correct terminology.
These advertisements employ techniques of persuasive communication, strategically using "lifestyle" as an appeal to attract impressionable consumers. Celebrities from every field are roped in to eulogise the virtues of the surrogate product on screen, only to remind the target about the real thing and the gullible find it hard to escape this powerful dragnet.