HUL agrees to take down Lakme Sunscreen ad after Mamaearth's objection
The court ordered the removal of Hindustan Unilever's 'disparaging' Lakme ad after Honasa and HUL filed defamation cases against each other
 "HUL agrees to take down Lakme Sunscreen ad after Mamaearth's objection")
Major fast-moving consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) on Thursday informed the Delhi High Court that it will withdraw its Lakmé sunscreen ad campaign which maligned products retailed by Honasa Consumer's skincare brand, The Derma Co.
The firm stated that it would also make significant changes to meet Honasa's demands, eliminate the word 'online bestseller' and change the packaging design from orange to yellow in the ad to prevent confusion with The Derma Co's product.
The FMCG major informed Justice Amit Bansal that it will delete online postings within 24 hours and hoardings within 48 hours. The court noted the same and listed the matter for Monday to inspect the position of the case.
Honasa and HUL had filed defamation lawsuits against each other this week. Honasa alleged that a recent Lakme sunscreen advertising campaign called "SPF Lie Detector Test" unjustly discredits rival products, including one that bears a strong resemblance to a sunscreen from The Derma Co, another brand owned by Honasa. The Lakme advertisement in question had suggested that rival sunscreen products fail to give adequate SPF protection as claimed. It claimed certain "online bestseller sunscreens" claiming SPF 50 actually offer far lower protection levels of about SPF 20. In response, HUL initiated its own legal action against Honasa in the Bombay High Court.
Both parties also agreed to take down adjacent billboard hoardings that had evolved into a marketing battleground. Furthermore, HUL indicated it would discontinue its legal proceedings against Honasa in the Bombay High Court.
Ghazal Alagh's post
The legal conflict began after Honasa co-founder Ghazal Alagh, in a LinkedIn post, accused big brands of "blatantly copying" products. Taking a jab at HUL, Alagh wrote, "Happy to see traditional brands following again and even blatantly copying products from name to packaging. We will keep innovating and showing the way." Alagh was referring to Lakme's brand campaign for its sunscreen, where it challenged the claims of rival sunscreen brands.
In response, HUL issued a public statement, saying that they have been in-vivo testing their sunscreen for the past 10 years. After this, the dispute was brought before the court, with Honasa initiating legal action seeking relief based on claims that the advertising campaign generated confusion among consumers.