Aquafresh And Colgate Both Get A Pasting

Colgate Palmolive and SmithKline Beecham complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about each others’ adverts. Both cases are detailed in this month’s ASA Report.

SmithKline Beecham objected to a poster for Colgate Total Fresh Stripe that was headlined: “Outstrips other Stripes” and showed two toothbrushes one with a small amount of striped toothpaste on it, the second with a strip of white toothpaste stretching from the brush across the poster. The advertisers said that the striped toothpaste was meant to represent other toothpaste in general. The Authority considered that the other toothpaste was considered to be Aquafresh because of the colours of the stripes. The ASA decided that the poster implied that Colgate was effective for longer than Aquafresh and other toothpastes. The complaint was upheld, and the ASA requested that the advert be withdrawn. The complainant also protested that the advert claimed that only Colgate Total Fresh Stripe worked all day, the ASA decided that this claim had not been substantiated and asked it to be withdrawn.

The mud slinging was not one sided, Colgate complained about a magazine advert for Aquafresh Flex Direct toothbrush. The advert in question was headed: “It bends over backwards to give you the best clean you’ve ever had.” The ASA obtained expert advice and understood that effective cleaning was largely dependent on the manual dexterity of the user and the brush was not an important factor. The advertiser was asked to remove the claims.

ASA: 0171 580 5555