Nivea escapes ASA ban following complaint from Unilever over antiperspirant skincare claims
A TV and online campaign promoting Nivea deodorant has escaped a ban from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) following a complaint from Unilever.
The campaign (above) ran on YouTube as well as on TV and depicted a tin of Nivea Crème rolling towards a generic aerosol canister, which changed to take on the branding of Nivea's Protect & Care antiperspirant product.
On-screen text stated: '48 hour protection' and 'soft on skin', while a voiceover said: 'On one side you want strong deodorant protection that lasts all day long. On the other side, you want that soft skin feel. Now you can have both, with the care of Nivea.'
The Beiersdorf-owned brand came under fire from its rival, which challenged the fact the ad implied that Nivea's deodorant contained similar ingredients to Nivea Crème – a moisturiser – and as such was misleading.
Nivea said that the ad "did not set out to demonstrate or imply" that Protect & Care had the same skin care ingredients and properties as Nivea Crème, but that 10 of the 16 ingredients within the product were known for their caring or skin conditioning properties.
Beiersdorf provided a clinical report in which 32 people were asked to respond to statements about the product. They said this substantiated the claim that the product left skin feeling soft.
The defense was enough for the ASA to spike Unilever's complaint.
The watchdog said that because the Nivea had demonstrated its product contained ingredients with "softening or caring" properties, and that participants in the study had reacted positively the claim was substantiated and the ad was not misleading