The truth with a grain of salt

Those who want to make comparative advertising must jump through a high hoop. Specsavers has experienced that. Its campaign 'The Truth' does not meet the rules of art. A ban follows.

Specsavers had an eye-catching campaign titled "The Truth” (in Dutch: De waarheid). Well known pianist Wibi Soerjadi performs in that campaign. The tenor: at Specsavers the hearing aids are much cheaper and better than at other audiologists. Why pay more? Specsavers often does comparative advertising; this time the sector association was too keen. And with success. The preliminary injunction judge prohibited Specsavers from continuing the campaign in this form. Specsavers could not substantiate accusations against other audiologist chains. The deception was reinforced by the fact that the campaign was entitled 'The Truth', whereby the consumer was informed in an emphatic and serious tone. So this cannot be an admissible advertising exaggeration.

For the legal experts among us: the courts have once again - and rightly - confirmed that a company can invoke the Unfair Commercial Practices Act if a competitor breaks the rules. The Truth campaign on radio, TV and website must be stopped; the requested rectification has been rejected.

Ebba Hoogenraad