NEW DELHI: The Bombay high court has permitted German personal care brand Sebamed to continue with its advertising that calls out HUL brands Lux, Pears, and Dove along with Santoor for their harmful pH levels. HUL had moved the court against the ads, claiming that they “disparaged” and “denigrated” soaps under its umbrella. 

HUL had argued that while most of its soaps are completely safe, gentle and not harmful to the skin at all, the Sebamed campaign launched earlier this month is creating a fear in the minds of consumers “to make unjust gains” by “fraudulently creating a market for their products.”

The court, passing on the judgement, said that Sebamed soaps are “superior” to those manufactured by HUL, “without comparing those to washing detergent.”

Earlier, a single-judge bench of justice BP Colabawalla had passed an ex-parte order against USV Private Ltd, Sebamed’s parent company, restraining its ad campaign. 

Following this, the brand tweaked its ads to exclude mentions of HUL and it’s products by name, and began offering free pH testing kits to consumers.

Besides print ads, Sebamed also rolled out ad films across television, digital, outdoor and radio, with the cheeky tagline filmstars kee nahi, science kee suno (listen to science, not film stars).