Time was when TV commercials for most cosmetic products and over the counter drugs were endorsed by men and women in the doctor’s white coat, no doubt to lend them an authenticity we might not otherwise believe they possess. However, since this was a patently dishonest practice with no medical basis — for example that X toothpaste has a magical fluoride that would rid your teeth of chocolate’s gaping holes — it was discontinued as misleading.

Global advertising standards discourage, even ban, the use of misleading information or endorsements in commercials by white coats, and India is no exception. However, unmindful companies continue to field the men (and women) in white as their sales executives.

A recent Colgate TV commercial has ‘doctor-sahib’ to recommend the toothpaste. There’s a fake medicine woman in the Pampers disposable diaper commercial. She is the neighbour of a woman with a cry baby — literally — and diagnoses the problem as a damp nappy syndrome. She helpfully recommends Pampers because it has an extraordinary lining that absorbs the baby’s urine and remains dry as the Thar desert and soft as a snowflake — well, that’s the general drift. One commercial was a bit more sly — it featured a GP who extolled the virtues of mustard oil without presenting a certificate of approval to the particular brand of sarson ka tel that was advertised.

In each case, the ‘doctor’ was selling a product that had no medical properties (is that better or worse?). Nor did their endorsement of the product enhance the toothpaste, nappy or oil’s charms besides being wrong and completely unethical.

Why doesn’t the minister of information and broadcasting, who seems to have developed a taste for banning distasteful TV content, strike these off our screens? And perhaps the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) may like to show its displeasure at this abuse and misuse, never mind misrepresentation of the medical profession?

While we are in the mood for ads, let’s hear it for Scooty, which is doing more for female empowerment than Shilpa Shetty. A young woman drives a two-wheeler with expert ease; not only that, she drives it to work. Cheers to professional women, yippee for women who can drive (and not just vehicles!)

On the bizarre side is the “khushboo wallah Dollar” where people scent out a man’s underwear by its aroma — due to a free Cinthol soap with the purchase of each Dollar. And what of Cozi Red Hot? Here, a woman boggles and goggles at a man where he wears a crimson underpant.

Thank God for sobersides. In Karamchand (Sony) Pankaj Kapur reprises his memorable portrayal of an eccentric private detective who swears by the carrot and stick treatment — carrots for him and sticks for criminals. He’s charming, if ever so old fashioned and something of a relief from the weeping willows who precede and follow him onto the screen. The new Kitty scores A for attempting to be like the old Kitty (Sushmita Mukherjee) and an A-minus for falling short. Antakshari Challenge (Star One) has made a reappearance, too, but with all due respect to Annu Kapoor, it’s time he made room for someone else — someone who doesn’t have to do what he did to his hair. And can Juhi Parmar, his new co-host, sing or is she there for her clothes?