The ad war between Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and its German rival Sebamed is likely to intensify after HUL made it clear that they would take appropriate action against the rival’s ad campaign targeting its soap brands.

"Our brands are best-in-class and deliver fully on the promises...backed by strong tech, science, clinical evidence and decades of expert and consumer-backed testing, enjoying strong brand loyalty. We will take suitable action as we deem fit," HUL had stated.

What is the background?

Sebamed India, in an advertising campaign for its cleansing bar ‘Seba Med,’ had targeted HUL brands such as Pears, Lux, Rin, Santoor and Dove by stating that pH level of its soap lower than that of the popular HUL soaps. As per the German brand, Dove had a pH level of 7 compared to Seba Med’s 5.5. Further, it claimed the popular soaps such as Pears, Santoor and Lux have a pH value of 10—similar to washing soap Rin.

HUL's response to an #ad on Lux yesterday: Our brands are best-in-class & deliver fully on the promises...backed by strong tech, science, clinical evidence & decades of expert and consumer-backed testing, enjoying strong brand loyalty. We will take suitable action as we deem fit pic.twitter.com/F871UP71GX

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) January 10, 2021

The video commercials of the brand, with catchy tags like “science ki suno’ became viral not only on YouTube but also on the official Twitter page of Sebamed India and on newspapers as well.

How HUL responded

#Advertising | HUL came out with its own ad today after a rival brand talked about the ph level in HUL's LUX soap yesterday. https://t.co/D5eGfUlhz5 pic.twitter.com/1ZqZVloC0G

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) January 10, 2021

HUL responded to this blitzkrieg tactics by coming up with its own share of advertisements. In its recent advertisement campaign that mainly focuses on newspapers across the country, the Indian subsidiary of the popular British brand Unilever claimed that dermatologists trusted Dove, thus reasserting the credibility of its popular soap that it claims to be is the best for the skin.

First Published:Jan 11, 2021 12:30 PM IST