On the 26th of February of 2020, the Advertising Ethics Jury of the Self-Regulating entity, was presented with a dispute to decide on the validity of a grease removal product advertisement.
The present dispute was between BRANDCARE EST 2014, S.A. (henceforth "BRANDCARE") and AGERUL INDUSTRIAS QUÍMICAS, S.L., (henceforth "AGERUL"). BRANDCARE challenged the advertising claims "Spreads double", "More efficient" and "Concentrated", contained in AGERUL´s product commercial communication, considering them misleading advertising.
It was argued that there was "no reference either on the packaging of the product or on its label as to the existence of technical and scientific studies enabling the consumer to prove such characteristics and qualities". Therefore, it was considered to be misleading to the consumer in respect of the characteristics and qualities as a cleaning product.
As mentioned by the Advertising Ethics Jury of the Self-Regulating entity, the advertising statements in question were subject to claim substantiation, which meant their veracity would have to be proven by the advertiser, failing which they would have to be considered inaccurate or misleading. However, in the present case, since there was no defense by AGERUL, the necessary proof of veracity was not made, which ultimately meant that those statements were regarded as not being in conformity with the principle of truthfulness.
In this sense, the Advertising Ethics Jury of the Self-Regulating entity decided on the immediate withdrawal of those expressions appearing on the AGERUL´s website, on the radio or in other media, as well as in consumer information used on labels.
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