P&G Fined Rs. 10 Million For Misleading Safeguard Ad

The Competition Appellate Tribunal has upheld the Competition Commission of Pakistan’s (CCP) decision against Proctor and Gamble Pakistan (P&G) for employing deceptive marketing tactics. P&G’s appeal was dismissed by the Tribunal, affirming the CCP’s ruling to impose a Rs 5 million fine on the company.

Initially, the CCP had fined P&G Rs 10 million for falsely asserting that its product Safeguard was the top antibacterial soap in Pakistan. However, the fine was reduced to Rs 5 million by the Tribunal due to P&G’s cooperation during the investigation. P&G had ceased making the misleading claims about Safeguard after the CCP initiated its inquiry in 2014.

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The investigation stemmed from a complaint filed by Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan Limited, alleging that P&G’s Safeguard advertisements were misleading. The CCP determined that P&G’s ads violated Section 10 of the Competition Act by falsely portraying Safeguard as the premier antibacterial soap in Pakistan without sufficient evidence.

Furthermore, the CCP found that labeling Safeguard as “Pakistan’s No 1 rated Anti-bacterial Soap” in advertisements without a clear disclaimer also breached Section 10 of the Competition Act. Subsequently, P&G was served a notice by the CCP to provide an explanation for their actions.