Marketing campaigns in the US and New Zealand have landed Valvoline and Shell in trouble under trades description legislation.
A panel of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) in New York has advised Valvoline's parent company, Ashland Inc. to discontinue two ads for Valvoline Motor Oil. The issue surrounds claims by Ashland that it offers the auto industry's first and/or only engine guarantee, and that Valvoline is the only oil to guarantee engines for up to 300,000 miles.
However, Pennzoil challenged the claims - initially through the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus who found in its favour. Penzoil then referred the findings to the NASRB who also ruled that Ashland's claims should be modified, stating that it found little significant technical or consumer-relevant difference between Ashland and Penzoil's guarantees.
As with the previous NAD ruling, the NASRB recommended that Ashland clearly discloses the limitations and conditions of the guarantee and clarifies certain ambiguities, something Ashland has agreed to due. In fact, Ashland went one step further by discontinuing the use of "first and only" claims from all of its future marketing materials.
Meanwhile in New Zealand, Shell is defending 22 charges made by the country's Commerce Commission relating to an advertising campaign for petrol back in 2006/7. The charges, under the New Zealand Fair Trading Act, allege that Shell's claims relating to a fuel-economy-enhancing additive were misleading and that the imagery used in the ad campaigns overstated the additional distances gained from the additive. Shell's claims of 'significant' improvements have been supported by an expert during the hearing.. The court case continues.