"The art of politics consists in knowing precisely when it is necessary to hit an opponent slightly below the belt”

HUL's latest television commercial for Rin, which makes a direct dig at P&G's Tide detergent, has raised many eyebrow .The TVC makes a no-holds barred comparison between Rin and Tide Naturals, going on to claim that the latter is incompetent of fighting stains and providing whiteness like Rin.

HUL has been under pressure since quite some time due to the launch of similar products backed by aggressive advertisement by its competitors.  The latest conflict appears to have started when P&G introduced its brand Tide washing powder , which ate into the sales of HUL's Rin washing powder.

Observers say HUL tried restructuring its brand portfolio and reduced prices so as to attract middle-class consumers.

In order to retain its market share, a couple of months ago P&G introduced a low-cost detergent, Tide Natural, claiming in its ads that it provided "whiteness with special fragrance".  The product was positioned against HUL's Rin and Wheel.

HUL retaliated with an aggressive two-pronged strategy. 

• First, it challenged Tide's claim of whiteness with special fragrance in the Chennai High Court, which passed an order on 25 February 2010 , directing P&G to modify the advertisement since it was not really able to substantiate the claim of "whiteness with special fragrance". The court has granted an injunction and directed P&G to respond within three weeks. 

Three days later on 28 February, HUL launched an aggressive TV campaign aired during prime time, showing two mothers waiting at a bus stop for their children returning from the school. 

While waiting together they glance at each other's shopping baskets.
One woman's basket has a packet of Rin detergent powder, while the other has a packet of Tide Naturals.

The Tide lady boasts confidently about Tide's khushboo aur safedi bhi (fragrance combined with whiteness) the theme on which the Tide Naturals campaign was based. The Rin lady does not show any reaction but has a beam on her face. Thereafter, the school bus stops and drops off the two children.

The child of the woman carrying Tide is wearing a visibly dull shirt, while behind him a boy comes out wearing a spotless white  shirt, who runs across the shocked Tide lady towards the mother carrying the Rin packet.

Making the advertisement more aggressive, the boy asks his mother, "Aunty chaunk kyun gayi?" ("chaunk" or startle has been used  in P&G's earlier punch line) as the ad concludes with a voice-over that Rin is 'behtar' than  Tide, when it comes to whiteness and at a  chaukanewala price of Rs25.

"HUL could not arrest the decline of the shares of some key brands to the competitors like P&G , Godrej and ITC. This desperation has clearly manifested in the latest ad for Rin. What on earth do (sic) a brand like Rin get into a direct comparative spat with its competitor...Rin chose a wrong way of telling its superiority to the consumer."

The ball is now in ASCI's (Advertising Standards Council of India) court. Replying to a query from Campaign India, Alan Collaco, secretary general, ASCI said, "A complaint has been registered against the Rin ad. The ASCI's Consumer Complaints Council will meet on 23rd March to discuss the matter."

That will gain give some time to HUL to air this ad and target  his competitor for almost a month .