Just days after the Rin vs Tide Naturals advertisement dispute reached the high courts, fast moving consumer goods major major Procter & Gamble has increased the grammage of its mass-market brand Tide Naturals by 25 per cent. This has been done for all stock keeping units (SKUs) of Tide Naturals.
A 25-per-cent increase in grammage implies that a 200-gram pack of Tide Naturals, which costs Rs 10, will now have an additional 50 grams. So, a 250-gram pack will now cost Rs 10, says a company spokesperson. The same goes for the 400-gram pack of Tide Naturals, which will now have an additional 100 grams, at Rs 20 only.
When contacted, a Hindustan Unilever (HUL) spokesperson says the company has no such plans for its Rin brand, which competes directly with Tide.
The P&G move is interesting as it comes after the Madras High Court directed the company last week to add a prominent disclaimer that its product does not contain lemon or chandan.
HUL had said that the Tide Naturals ad had sought to give the impression that it is a natural detergent when in fact, by its own admission in court, it is a synthetic detergent.
P&G, however, said Tide Naturals has the goodness and freshness that of lemon and sandalwood.
In January, HUL had brought down the price of a one-kg pack of Rin detergent powder to Rs 50 from Rs 70, an almost 29 per cent cut. The price of a 500-gram pack of Rin was also slashed to Rs 25 from Rs 35. It also increased grammage of its 150-gram Rin pack by 33 per cent.
Even as these changes were effected by HUL, allied products such as Surf Excel Blue and Wheel were not spared by the company.
HUL brought down the price of a 200-gram pack of Surf Excel Blue to Rs 23 from Rs 25, while a 500-gram pack of the same brand was reduced to Rs 55 from Rs 62.
A 300-gram and 600-gram pack of Wheel, meanwhile, saw a 25-gram and 50-gram increase, each costing Rs 10 and Rs 20 only.
P&G last month had brought down the price of its 250-gram Tide bar to Rs 9 from Rs 17, while the 105-gram bar was reduced to Rs 4 from Rs 6.
| HUL REDUCES PRICE, GRAMMAGE FOR LUX HUL has brought down the grammage as well as the price of its Lux 100-gram soap bar. The bar is now down to 90 grams costing Rs 15 from Rs 18 earlier. Lux was relaunched recently with a high-profile ad campaign featuring star couple Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai. The two were roped in to endorse a new range of Lux soaps containing beauty oils. This was the first ad in which Bachchan and Rai appeared as a couple together. Lux has also just roped in Bollywood star Katrina Kaif for promoting the new Lux Purple Lotus and Cream soap which has anti-ageing properties. The new ad, featuring Kaif, was shot in Bangkok and has been directed by Marco. The music is by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy while designer Rocky S has styled the star. |
