P&G drops ‘unfair’ Fairy Traditional ads

Procter & Gamble has been forced to ditch its TV campaign for recently launched dishwasher detergent, Fairy Traditional, because its claims about rival brands were misleading and unfair.

Procter & Gamble has been forced to ditch its TV campaign for recently launched dishwasher detergent, Fairy Traditional, because its claims about rival brands were misleading and unfair.

The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) ordered P&G to take the ads off the air, following complaints from German-owned household goods rival, Benckiser.

Benckiser, which owns rival dishwasher detergent brand Finish, says the ad claimed most tra- ditional detergents could scratch glasses. It also claimed the commercial showed a glass which was clouded, not scratched.

Benckiser marketing director Keith Edwards says: “We had a fundamental problem with the claim [P&G] was making.

“There is a large body of evidence that failures in manufacturing of glasses, not detergents, are responsible for glass scratching,” adds Edwards.

Edwards says the claims had not adversely affected the performance of his company’s products. Share of Benckiser’s Finish dishwashing products rose from 41 per cent to 46 per cent by value in the three months to July.

The BACC had already passed the ads, which began running in May, as the technical arguments concerning scratching were not investigated at the time.

A P&G spokeswoman said the ads would be modified.

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