The Delhi High Court has restrained Kwick Living (India) Pvt. Ltd., which operates consumer products brand Beco, and directed it to immediately pull down, remove and recall advertisements forming part of its campaign against Hindustan Unilever’s (HUL) Surf Excel and Vim brands.
The Court also restrained Beco from publishing or disseminating disparaging advertisements concerning the two brands. According to the order, Beco failed to establish the truthfulness of the allegations made in the campaign.
The ruling follows Beco’s “#WarOnWhatsHidden” campaign, which questioned the ingredients used in household cleaning products and sought to position ingredient transparency as a consumer issue.
Also read: Delhi High Court restrains Beco ads against HUL’s Surf Excel, Vim
Reacting to the development in a LinkedIn post, Aditya Ruia, Co-Founder, Beco, said the Delhi High Court had held, at the interim stage, that the campaign, when viewed as a whole, crossed the contours of permissible comparative advertising.
What began as our campaign is now the category’s conversation. That is the win – for our customers, for consumers in this category, and for the industry: Aditya Ruia
Ruia said the company respects the Court’s findings and is complying with the order in full. He also noted that the order is limited to the specific campaign and does not prevent Beco from undertaking comparative advertising related to the products in the future, subject to the legal guardrails outlined by the Court.
According to Ruia, the campaign was built around the question of what goes into products used in homes every day and was intended to promote transparency and informed consumer choice. He added that the discussion generated by the campaign had expanded beyond the advertisements themselves to a broader conversation around ingredient disclosure and consumer awareness.
Comparative advertising has a legitimate place in a competitive market. So does a consumer’s right to information. Those are principles Beco has stood for from the beginning, and we will keep standing for them: Aditya Ruia
Ruia further said that comparative advertising has a legitimate role in a competitive market and that consumers have a right to information. He maintained that Beco would continue advocating for ingredient transparency while adhering to the parameters laid down by the Court.
The company also thanked its agency and campaign partners who worked on the initiative over the past four weeks, reiterating its commitment to promoting greater transparency in consumer products.
