Procter & Gamble fined by Türkiye’s advertising board

Türkiye’s Advertising Board imposed a ₺2.21 million ($60,483) fine on Procter & Gamble for a misleading advertisement of “Ariel Rapid Dissolve Mountain Breeze” detergent.

The Advertising Board closely examined the TV commercial for the powdered detergent “Ariel Rapid Dissolve Mountain Breeze,” launching a detailed investigation into the content and claims of the ad.

According to the decision published on the Advertising Board’s official website, the following misleading claims were made by the company under review:

“In the advertisement for the detergent, which aired on television, statements such as ‘1 scoop of Ariel versus 2 scoops of competitor,’ ‘Let’s see how Ariel’s superior performance can support your budget,’ ‘mud stain,’ ‘fruit juice stain,’ ‘chocolate pudding stain,’ and ‘In terms of household preferences, the closest competitor cleans with 2 scoops, while Ariel cleans with 1 scoop’ were included.”

Misleading claims found

The advertisement contained claims such as, “Let’s see how Ariel’s superior performance can support your budget” and, “According to household preferences, the closest competitor cleans with 2 scoops, while Ariel cleans with just 1 scoop.” These statements, combined with visual representations, suggested that the product could save consumers money by using less detergent compared to competitors. However, this claim could not be substantiated.

Moreover, the advertisement suggested that Ariel could clean stains such as chocolate pudding, fruit juice (orange and grape), and mud with a single scoop of detergent in just one wash. However, the test conducted to verify this claim involved washing the dirty sheets eight times, which contradicted the visuals presented in the advertising. The washing conditions in the test did not match those shown in the commercial, and consumers were misled by this discrepancy.

The claim that the detergent could clean heavily soiled sheets with just one scoop of detergent, specifically for stains like “mud” and “chocolate pudding,” could not be proven with the provided information and documentation.