With regard to the advertising claim that Safeguard is No 1 rated antibacterial soap, the respondent (company) is directed to inform the public at large, the falsity of its advertising claim through appropriate clarifications in all Urdu and English dailies and through TV channels. The company is also directed to file a compliance report with the registrar of the Commission within the period of 45 days from the date of issuance of this order and is reprimanded from indulging in deceptive marketing as well as other anti-competitive practices provided in the Act. In the event the respondent fails to comply with the above directions within the specified time period and continues with the contravention of Section 10 of the Act, the Commission may impose additional penalties/fine as are provided, inter alia, under Section 38 of the Act.
The complainant (multinational company) filed the complaint alleging that the respondent (multinational company) in its marketing and advertising claims has represented Safeguard as 'Pakistan's No 1 rated anti-bacterial soap along with a disclaimer/disclosure in fine prints based on product in use test by AC Nielsen amongst 600+ consumers' which tantamount to dissemination of false or misleading information to consumers and competitors' detriment in violation of Section 10 of the Act. The complainant alleged that the respondent's marketing material and advertising claim lacks a reasonable basis to substantiate the claim. The Commission is of the considered opinion that the advertising claim thus creates an impression and/or conveys the message that Safeguard is 'Pakistan no 1 antibacterial soap' in violation of Section 10(2)(b) of the Act. The Commission finds that the respondent's disclaimer/disclaimer placed at the bottom of the advertisement was neither easily noticeable/legible nor easily understandable by an ordinary consumer. Furthermore, the most part of the TYC and other marketing and advertising campaigns material was in Urdu, whereas the disclaimer/disclosure was in English and appeared for not more than two seconds (momentarily) out of a total of circa 30 seconds TYC, which was inadequate to correct the deceptive impression of Safeguard as 'Pakistan's No. 1 rated antibacterial soap'. Therefore, the Commission is of the considered opinion that the disclaimer/disclosure used by the respondent in its marketing and advertising campaigns itself tantamount to the distribution of false and misleading information to the consumers in violation of Section 10(2)(b) of the Act.
The respondent's reliance on Nielsen's and BHT study/survey to rank itself as Pakistan's No 1 antibacterial soap is irrelevant, materially false and misleading for two main reasons. The Commission is of the considered opinion that such an advertising claim requires a higher level of substantiation in the form of 'competent and reliable scientific evidence'. Therefore, Nielsen's survey which is based on value share and volume share of the products and BHT equity tracking data are irrelevant and inconsequential to offset the falsity of advertising claim or substantiate the advertising claim made by the respondent. Likewise, sales material and customer's or doctor's testimonials are anecdotal. The claims involving health and safety need to be backed up with scientific evidence. Therefore, the rule is that strong product claims require strong evidence to back them up. Section 10(2)(a) of the Act states 'the distribution of false or misleading information that is capable of harming the business interests of another undertaking' constitutes deceptive marketing practice for the purposes of Section 10(1) of the Act. The company has clearly disregarded the Commission's public notice issued in 2013 to the undertakings to ensure that their marketing and advertising campaigns do not violate Section 10 of the Act.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017