Hindustan Unilever Pulled Up For Misleading Vim Bar Advertisement

New Delhi: Advertisement regulator ASCI has pulled up FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) over its 'misleading' TV commercial for dish washer brand Vim in which it claimed rival Jyothy Laboratories' Exo as "sadharan" (ordinary) bar.

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) noted that its Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld a complaint against HUL in which it implied that Exo is "ordinary or inferior".

"There being no other criteria for calling out a product as 'ordinary', the CCC considered the TVC to be misleading by ambiguity and implication and unfairly denigrated Exo dish wash bar," ASCI said in a statement.

When contacted, HUL said, "As a responsible marketer and member of ASCI, we have always complied with ASCI guidelines and recommendations. We will suitably modify the advertisement as per ASCI's recommendation."

ASCI also said it has asked HUL to modify its TVC in which the company made a claim that 'Vim removes grease fastest' saying, "There was a mismatch between the claim and its corresponding disclaimer."

ASCI said in the disclaimer HUL stated, "as per independent lab test conducted on burnt food stain" while the claim referred to 'grease', which is as "an oil stain".

The advertising watchdog, however, struck down a Jyothy Laboratories' claim that its Exo was superior than Vim bar "in absence of any data to prove that Exo performs better than Vim".

The CCC concluded that the TVC claim, "There is nothing else faster than Vim", was substantiated.

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