Thread by @beastoftraal

Hahahahaha :) Here we go again - one more 'brand war'! HUL's Domex names Reckitt's Harpic and says the latter is inferior in fighting bad odour because it does not have 'FreshGuard Technology', that as per HUL (jargon-alert), "consists of surface modification molecules that 1/8

2/8 leaves a protective hydrophobic layer on the toilet commode surface which reduces water, stain, and germ build-up, thereby troubleshooting persistent problems such as cleanliness, hygiene, and malodour".
In normal English, that is, "help make informed decisions determined

3/8 by scientific insight".
This is perhaps the best time to remind HUL that Sebamed said exactly the same thing, in January 2021, when they named a slew of HUL soaps and said - "science ki suno". HUL got all riled up and went to Court... and lost. See: bit.ly/wardove

4/8 I'd love to see what HUL's response would be when Reckitt goes to Court on Monday considering they didn't agree with Sebamed's 'science' logic and are now caught using the same logic for naming a rival.
Considering HUL has released an official statement to back the

5/8 advertising, and not merely reacting to media's questions (the similarity of the statements across media indicate this), this seems like a carefully planned PR strategy aligned with the advertising tactic. The idea is to make news, not through the product's

6/8 quality/strength (which is not 'news' anyway), but through the fact that they were bold enough to name a rival.
In the case of Sebamed, they stood to gain a fresh brand name recall since they were unknown in front of the more popular soaps they named. HUL or Domex is not

7/8 unknown at all, but it is obvious that they want to win market share from Harpic.
Incidentally, the last time Harpic and Domex went against each other was in 2007-2008. Both brands advertised slyly, using color of liquid as a reference

8/8 and 'acid-based' vs. 'bleach-based' as another reference. Both sued each other in Madras High Court back then.