India, which bans direct advertising of liquor, is set to announce sweeping rules that will bar even surrogate ads and sponsoring of events, which could force firms such as Carlsberg, Pernod Ricard and Diageo to redraw marketing campaigns.

Such “surrogate ads” often get round the ban by ostensibly showing less desirable items instead, such as water, music CDs or glassware garbed in logos and hues linked to their key product, and often promoted by popular stars.

Now, according to a Reuters report, they could bring fines for companies and bans for celebrities endorsing tobacco and liquor ads deemed misleading, according to the top civil servant for consumer affairs.

“You can’t take a circuitous way to promote products,” the official, Nidhi Khare, told Reuters, adding that final rules were expected to be issued within a month.

“If we find ads to be surrogate and misleading, then even those who are endorsing (products), including celebrities, will be held responsible,” she added.

For example, brewer Carlsberg promotes its Tuborg drinking water in India, with an ad showing film stars at a rooftop dance party and the slogan “Tilt Your World”, which echoes its beer ads elsewhere, emblazoned with the message: “Drink Responsibly”.

Competitor Diageo’s YouTube ad for its Black & White ginger ale, which has drawn 60 million views, features the signature black-and-white terriers from its scotch of the same name.

The changes threaten a sea change for liquor makers in India, the world’s eighth-biggest alcohol market by volume, with annual revenues Euromonitor estimates at $45 billion.

Growing affluence among its 1.4 billion people makes India a lucrative market for the likes of Kingfisher beer maker, United Breweries, part of the Heineken Group, which has more than a quarter of market share by volume.

Popular for their whiskies, Diageo and Pernod taken together, have a market share of about a fifth, while for Pernod, India contributes about a tenth of global revenues.

The new rules call for “prohibition against engaging in surrogate advertisement”, which extends to sponsorships and ads for products viewed as “brand extensions” that share the characteristics of an alcohol brand, the draft said.

Penalties under the new rules rely on consumer law, opening manufacturers and endorsers to fines of up to Rs. 5 million ($60,000), while promoters risk endorsement bans running from one to three years.

Carlsberg declined to comment, while other companies did not respond to Reuters’ queries, including those on sales of non-alcohol products.

Members of the International Spirits and Wines Association of India, which represents Diageo and Pernod, “are committed to a compliant way of building brand extension businesses,” said its outgoing chief executive, Nita Kapoor.

The group was in talks with the government and supported advertising of “genuine” brand extensions, she added.

The new draft rules prohibit marketing of items such as soda or music CDs employing a “similar label, design, pattern, logo” to that of alcohol products, explicitly targeting efforts to get around current bans.

Ads for items such as glasses and soda cans allow “brand names to appear in all their ads, creating its recall value for the consumers,” however, the draft states.