The conflict goes back two months, when RB first came out with its launch commercial for Dettol Kitchen Cleaning Gel, comparing it with HUL's Vim liquid cleaner, the leader in the Rs 500-crore category. HUL moved the Calcutta High Court, seeking a modification in the ad, granted on February 22. Emboldened, HUL came out with a print ad on February 24, titled: 'A harsh antiseptic or the power of 100 lemons?'. The body copy said: An antiseptic is for cleaning wounds and floors. Would you use it to clean the utensils your family eats from?
HUL didn't stop there. It soon came out with TV commercials for Vim liquid cleaner around the 'power of 100 lemons' premise. This raised the hackles of RB, which promptly knocked the doors of the Calcutta High Court on March 4, saying HUL's indirect reference to Dettol was unfair.
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The court again intervened and passed on order on March 5, asking HUL to carrying disclaimers in its Vim commercials, as well as print ads, saying the advertisement was subject to litigation and would be printed or aired at the risk of a court order.
This order was reiterated on March 19 when the matter came for hearing again.
When the dust seemed to have settled on the issue, RB again pressed an application in the court, saying HUL had not followed the court's orders and had been running the ads without the disclaimer.
Both HUL and RB declined to comment on the issue.
HUL and RB have been fighting each other for some time now to appropriate the germ-kill space.
Dettol has been positioned as a germ-killer, thanks to its antiseptic liquid legacy in India. The latter has been in the country for 75 years and is used by almost every other household as a disinfectant. Dettol has, over the years, taken this germ-kill promise to soaps, liquid handwash and hand sanitizers, strengthening its portfolio in the process.
HUL, in the interim, moved its health brand Lifebuoy from a generic platform epitomised by the tagline Thandrusti Ki Raksha (or protection of health) to protection from germs. This happened 10 years ago. In the past decade, it has stuck to this premise taking on RB's Dettol. In fact, at one stage in the current round of hostilities, HUL brought Lifebuoy into the picture by releasing a print ad on March 10, comparing Lifebuoy with Dettol saying that it gave better germ protection than the latter.
RB responded on March 16 with a front-page ad saying that its disinfectant now came in a new fresh fragrance, which could be used for both personal and household hygiene.