Unilever wins appeal

Johannesburg - Unilever's will still be allowed to claim that Sunlight 2-in-1 washing powder has fabric softening qualities. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld Unilever's appeal against one of two rulings last month.

AdReview (2009/07/15) reported that the grocery and household product manufacturer was ordered to withdraw claims that Sunlight 2-in-1 had fabric softening properties. The ASA directorate argued that all washing powders fulfilled this function to an extent but couldn't be considered fabric softeners.

Following third party substantiations of the scientific tests carried out by Unilever as stipulated by the directorate, the claims can now be upheld. But the initial decision on the second claim that pure and natural ingredients are used still applies.

Unilever suggested that the phrasing "pure, natural, ingredients" be changed to "including pure and natural ingredients". This alternative was presented because "a few of the raw materials may not be considered to be pure and natural".

The directorate decided not to rule on this because doing so would "amount to pre-clearance" as the claim is not used at the moment.

The initial complaint against Unilever was lodged by Bliss Chemicals, manufacturer of competitor washing powder MAQ.

- Fin24.com