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Fairy Liquid ads have been saying since 1950 that the washing up liquid lasts twice as long as other washing up liquids.
A new complaint from rivals Persil saw the company complain to the UK’s ASA that the claim in the Fairy ad that it lasted ‘twice as long’ was “misleading and could not be substantiated”.
It also questioned ads which compared Fairy Liquid to an unknown rival brand, with Persil asking if the ads represented a fair comparison.
They said that they believed the ads were misleading because they omitted material information such as the concentration of the liquid and the size and price of the bottle. Its three complaints were not upheld.
The result
The ASA investigated the TV ad, magazine ad and a digital poster, after which it said the campaign was not misleading.
It also stated that the size of the Fairy 433ml bottle on show was actually smaller than the two 500ml rival brands on show.
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The ASA noted the ads “showed images of the advertised product beside an equals sign and two unbranded bottles of washing-up liquid”.
The ads also made clear that Fairy lasted twice as long as the next best-selling brand and that the next best-selling brand was based on AC Nielsen volume share data, which we understood identified that brand as Persil.
It considered consumers “would understand from the shape and comparative size of the bottles that the images were of the 433 ml Fairy bottles and two 500 ml Persil bottles”.
“In that context, we considered consumers would interpret the ads to mean that a standard 433 ml bottle of Fairy lasted as long as two standard 500 ml bottles of Persil when used in conditions representative of everyday use.”
The ASA also sought expert advice on the robustness of the evidence provided by Procter & Gamble, and the expert “considered the test reflected the practices of consumers and demonstrated that Fairy lasted at least twice as long as Persil”.
It considered that the claims that Fairy lasted twice as long as the next best-selling brand had been substantiated on this basis.
Brands
The ASA said that the ads also made clear that the next best-selling brand was based on AC Nielsen volume share data, which we understood identified that brand as Persil, and considered that customers would understand the comparison was between the two products.
It considered the images made clear that a standard 433 ml bottle of Fairy lasted as long as two standard 500 ml bottles of Persil.
It also considered that information about the concentration of the liquid and the size and price of the bottle “was not material information in relation to ads that made clear that the basis of the comparison was the mileage of the products”.
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