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HUL has approached the Delhi HC seeking an interim injunction against Beco’s campaign targeting Surf Excel and Vim. The court has sought Beco’s response, with the matter listed for August 21.

The case could set a precedent for how D2C brands make comparative product safety claims against established FMCG players.

Beco released a comparative ad campaign featuring HUL’s home cleaning brands, including Vim and Surf Excel, claiming they contain chemicals that can cause skin irritation and allergic reactions.

FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) has moved the Delhi High Court against D2C sustainable home care brand Alley over its claims in a recent advertising campaign.

Last week, Beco released a comparative ad campaign featuring HUL’s home cleaning brands, including Vim and Surf Excel, claiming that they contain chemicals that can cause skin irritation and allergic reactions.

HUL moved the Delhi HC seeking an interim injunction against the campaign, alleging commercial disparagement, trademark infringement, and passing off.

Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani has sought Beco’s reaction to HUL’s application by today. The matter will be heard by the court tomorrow. The advertisements have not been restrained for the time being, Bar and Bench reported.

The campaign, which was launched across social media and outdoor hoardings, directly compared Beco’s ‘eco-friendly’ home cleanings products like laundry and dishwashing liquids with Surf Excel Matic Liquid and Vim Dishwash Gel.

It claimed that laboratory testing found Benzisothiazolinone (BIT) and Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate (LAS) in Surf Excel and LAS in Vim – both of which can be harmful for skin.

Senior advocate Amit Sibal, appearing for HUL, argued that Beco had only tested the presence of these chemicals in the products and did not have conclusive proof that the end product did cause skin irritation as claimed. He said the prescribed safety test had not been performed, making the claims false and misleading, according to the report.

As per him, merely testing for the presence of these ingredients in isolation without also testing how they reacted in the finished formulations could not establish claims that the products caused skin irritations or triggered allergic reactions.

He further added that LAS is commonly used in dishwashing liquids to reduce surface tension and enable cleaning products to remove grease and oil, claiming that the same was used across product lines by various brands, not just Vim, and had a role beyond causing skin irritation.

Sibal said Beco released the campaign on August 14, ahead of its Independence Day sale, knowing that the FMCG giants would not be able to approach the court in time on a national holiday, the publication reported.

What Does Beco Have To Say?

BECO’s #WarOnWhatsHidden campaign placed Beco and HUL’s products side by side, prominently featuring the Surf Excel Matic Liquid and Vim Dishwash Gel with claims that ingredients found within the products cause skin irritation. It then prompted users to switch to Beco’s products instead as a more ‘natural’ alternative.

Soon after the campaign went live, Beco cofounder Aditya Ruia claimed on LinkedIn that its marketing partners, including hoarding printers, site owners and online partners, had received calls asking for the advertisements to be taken down.

“Every claim on these hoardings was substantiated before they went live. These products were tested by independent, NABL-accredited laboratories. The effects we describe are supported by scientific literature and references from organisations including the WHO, the OECD, and the European Chemicals Agency,” he said.

In a subsequent post earlier this week, he said that the hoardings had started to come down because its “outdoor vendors, OTT and digital partners were being pressured by a much larger advertiser with far greater commercial weight”.

He urged the concerned parties to employ the proper channels to challenge the claims rather than using commercial pressure.

Founded in 2018 by Aditya Ruia, Anuj Ruia, and Akshay Varma, Beco is a Mumbai-based sustainable kitchen, home and personal care brand. It sells a wide range of products including tissue rolls, bamboo facial tissues, dishwashing liquid, toothbrushes, biodegradable garbage bags, among others.

Beco has raised $13.4 Mn to date from the likes of Titan Capital, Rukam Capital, Tanglin Venture Partners, Better Capital and Climate Angels, among others.