INSIGHTS

Corporate social responsibility is a hot topic. More and more, business proudly proclaim to be “responsible”, “climate neutral” and “green”. But not everyone is convinced of the sincerity of these claims. And so, Varkens in Nood, a Dutch organization that fights for the well-being of pigs, submitted complaints to the Dutch Advertising Code Committee (ACC) against ING and ABN AMRO.

Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Glen Talloch and Glen Buchenbach are all names of whisky’s, however only a few of them are allowed to use the predicate ‘Scotch Whisky’. Scotch Whisky is a so called protected geographical indication (PGI). It can only be used when the whisky originates from Scotland. Glen Buchenbach, a whisky from the Buchenbachtal in Germany, therefore cannot and does not use the term Scotch Whisky.

It's OK to use 'ad-speak' in advertising, certainly with cosmetics. Consumers are fully aware that they'll often see advertising hyperbole at work. But factual descriptions of effects have to be true. Since the case about Biodermal 60+ day and night cream, at the Appeal Board of the Advertising Code Commission (College van Beroep van de Reclame Code Commissie), we now know exactly how the rules on evidence stand when it comes to cosmetics ads.

On 6 September 2017, the District Court of Amsterdam had already held that Picnic using a Max Verstappen lookalike in an amusing freeriding clip just couldn't pass go. The court offered Max the chance to substantiate his losses, which Picnic would have to pay.

In April 2018, the District Court of Rotterdam ruled on the toothbrush skirmish between Philips and P&G. P&G compared its Oral-B electric toothbrush with Philips’ DiamondClean toothbrush in its advertising campaign. You've guessed it: Oral-B sparkles, it's "the best" and it "cleans better". The Philips model is shown in black, literally put in the shade. Philips was not amused, and demanded the campaign should be stopped at the provisional relief court.

A rather saddening trend: recently the Advertising Code Committee (ACC) has received quite a number of complaints about advertising in which expression is given to homosexuality.Suitsupply’s out-of-home-campaign, in which kissing men are shown (oh my…), received a considerable amount of negative attention.

The inflation of the expression "responsible" has to be prevented, according to the Advertising Code Commission (Reclame Code Commissie, “ACC”). It's a broad, catch-all term. In today's society, consumers are consistently opting for a responsible product, to do their bit.

“The most beautiful”, “the best tasting”, “the best there is”. These are all common claims in advertising. It is often fine to promote products by using superlatives. The consumer often understands them as mere puffery and does not take them literally. However, sometimes superlatives are understood as objective claims and do require hard evidence. But when is this the case? This question was addressed recently by the District Court in Amsterdam in preliminary proceedings.