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- Unilever took Bliss, owner of MAQ, to the Advertising Regulatory Board over an advert that claims that MAQ dishwashing liquid works better than Sunlight liquid.
- In the ad, Bliss claims that its MAQ dishwashing liquid contains "more foam, more power, and it cleans more dishes".
- To help its ad, Bliss had its product tested and an expert confirmed that MAQ dishwashing liquid does indeed work better than Sunlight liquid in those categories.
- For more stories, visit the Tech and Trends homepage.
In a recent war of adverts, Unilever took Bliss, owner of MAQ, to the Advertising Regulatory Board over a commercial that claims that MAQ dishwashing liquid is better than Sunlight Liquid.
In the ad, a character portraying a "Real Expert" claims that MAQ dishwashing liquid contains "more foam, more power, and it cleans more dishes".
While the "expert" makes these claims, a disclaimer that says "vs the best-selling dishwashing liquid in SA" appears at the bottom of the screen.
In response to the commercial, Unilever submitted to the ARB that the statement "vs the best-selling dishwashing liquid in SA" refers to Sunlight Dishwashing Liquid.
The company further stated that Bliss claims that MAQ dishwashing liquid has more foam, more power, and cleans more dishes than Sunlight.
Unilever also found a problem with the advert where one of the actors is given a "perfect 10" score by judges at a "SINK-RONISED SWIMMING" competition.
This, according to Unilever, also supports the claim that MAQ dishwashing liquid is, in fact, the "perfect" dishwashing liquid and is better than Sunlight liquid.
As a result, Unilever believes the claims in the ad need substantiation, interpretation and are misleading. It also believes that Bliss resorted to comparative advertising, but failed to prove how.
Bliss' Response
According to the ARB, both parties have made it clear that the matter is currently in litigation at the Constitutional Court of South Africa, thus Bliss provided the ad regulator with confidential documents in response to the complaint.
However, to substantiate its advertising claims, Bliss provided a document titled "Substantiation of TVC Claims for MAQ Dishwashing Liquid" by Mr John Knowlton of Cosmetic Solutions.
Claims that MAQ is better than Sunlight
In terms of the claims "more foam", "more power", and "cleans more dishes", Bliss was asked to objectively substantiate why it said so in the advert and why the disclaimer "vs the best-selling dishwashing liquid in SA" appeared each time these claims were made.
Knowlton, who is the independent expert consulted in the matter, examined the documents submitted by Bliss.
The documents tested MAQ dishwashing liquid’s "Foam Height Measurement", "Speed of Fat Removal" and "Foam Stability Evaluation". Knowlton confirmed that Sunlight liquid is indeed the best-selling dishwashing liquid in South Africa.
He also confirmed that MAQ dishwashing powder lives up to its claims of "more foam", "more power" and "cleans more dishes".
He said:
The ARB also agrees that the claims are substantiated. Unilever further claimed that the judges in the commercial, who gave the product a score of 10, imply that MAQ is the "perfect product".
The ARB dismissed this complaint, stating that the words "perfect product" did not appear in the commercial.
"The scores of '10' are clearly awarded for the synchronised (or "sink-ronised", as the commercial jokes) swimming attempts taking place in the sink of dishes, rather than for the objective qualities of the product," it said.
