Soap war: HUL counters Sebamed pH campaign on suitability for skin

Says overall composition of soap matters, not its pH value; Sebamed says new vocabulary

The country's largest consumer goods company, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), has rebutted the claims of rival Sebamed India that it is the pH value of a soap that determines whether it is good for the skin or not.
 

HUL is the largest maker of soaps in India, counting brands such as Lux, Liril, Lifebuoy, Pears and cleansing bar Dove among others in its portfolio. Sebamed had said in its advertising campaign for its cleansing bar, released earlier this month, that the pH value of Lux, Dove, Pears and detergent bar Rin were above 5.5. The latter is considered safe for sensitive skin, Sebamed had said.
 

HUL had sued Sebamed, but the German personal care company had got relief from the Bombay High Court last week, prompting it to restart the campaign with modifications.
 

Speaking to Business Standard, Vibhav Sanzgiri, global vice-president, research & development (R&D), skin cleansing for Unilever, site leader, R&D India and executive director, HUL, said that companies were now focusing on a single attribute, namely, pH, ignoring that it was the composition of the ingredients going into soaps and cleansing bars that mattered.
 

"Here is an unhealthy precedent that is being  set where companies are ignoring the benefits of the ingredients that are good for skin. They are ignoring the fact that products they are comparing conform to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)," he said, referring to the Sebamed campaign that was first released across media on January 8.
 

Soap, for the uninitiated, is made up of salts of fatty acids, oil, glycerin, and other skin-beneficial ingredients. A well-defined formulation takes into account how these ingredients act in combination and not the pH.
 

pH or potential Hydrogen, on the other hand, is defined as the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution. It basically determines how acidic or alkaline a product is. 7 is considered neutral on a ph scale of 0 to 14. Water has a pH value of 7, while ingredients such as milk have a pH value of 8, honey has a pH value of 3.5 and turmeric has a pH value of 9.6. Most of these ingredients are used for their beneficial properties in skincare products.
 

Soap guidelines by the BIS, incidentally, excludes pH, focusing instead on the composition (of soaps) as being relevant to safety and mildness.
 

In response to HUL, Shashi Ranjan, country head, Sebamed India, said that consumers had a right to know the pH value of products. "While pH is not the only criterion, it an important indicator of how safe it is for the skin. In other words, it helps set the standard for skin types, much like you have a standard for body temperature or blood pressure. This is a new vocabulary in personal care advertising and will take time for people to understand, " he said.
 

Sebamed has already released the next leg of ads in its campaign, asking consumers to call or register for free pH testing kits.

HUL too responded to the Sebamed campaign, reiterating that Dove was the number one brand recommended by dermatologists.

"If pH 5.5 is sacrosanct for the skin then people should not be bathing with water, which has a pH value of 7. They should be bathing instead with dilute vineager, black coffee or dilute acid, which have a pH value of 5.5," Sanzgiri said.
 

HUL has said that it wil look at all options to counter Sebamed's pH campaign. Industry sources say the company may release a counter campaign to highlight the beneficial property of soap ingredients.