Unilever forced to admit aloe vera variant is of no real benefit to skin

Unilever has been forced to admit that its Persil Aloe Vera detergent brand has few chemical properties that truly benefit customers after washing. The move follows a complaint made to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The complaint, which was not upheld, was made by Oxfordshire Trading Standards. OTS objected to a press ad for the detergent brand that says: “Discover Persil’s kindest ever non-bio. New Persil Aloe Vera contains real extracts of aloe vera and is kinder to your skin. A drop of nature. A wash with kindness.”

The trading standards authority complained that the ad is misleading. Lever Fabergé, the UK subsidiary of Unilever, says that rather than the benefits of aloe vera, it is the overall kindness of the product that is important and the ad does not imply that the addition of aloe vera alone makes the product kinder to skin.

The company also says the ad does not claim that the aloe vera content delivers any “kindness benefit”.

The ASA has upheld complaints against pressure group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA) “misleading” leaflet promoting a vegetarian lifestyle. One of the many claims the leaflet makes is: “PETA compelled industry leaders Revlon, Avon, Estée Lauder and Mary Kay to stop product testing on animals.” PETA says that the leaflet will not be used again.