Delhi HC permits Dabur to use tagline for its toothpaste ad with modification

The Delhi High Court has permitted homegrown FCMG company, Dabur India, to go ahead and publish the advertisement for its ayurvedic toothpaste Dabur Red Paste, but with a slight modification in its tagline. Instead of ‘World’s No 1 Ayurvedic paste’, the company has been ordered to use ‘World’s leading Ayurvedic paste’.

Justice Pratibha M Singh mentioned that advertising was a part of commercial speech and some amount of puffery was permitted as long as the assertions put forward were reasonable.

According to media reports, on September 30, Dabur India had moved the HC against the order of Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) which asked the company to modify its ad. Further, it asked Dabur India to restrain from publishing the ad which was misleading and was unfair in portrayal and constituted exaggeration.

The FMCG company mentioned to the Council that its claims were based on the market research studies which were conducted by Mordor Intelligence. However, ASCI rejected the FMCG company’s claims on the authenticity of the data that supported the claim, mentioned in the report. On the other hand, the Delhi High Court stated that the report which was relied on by the company could not be done away with or be completely ignored. "Some credence had to be given to the fact that the company was selling one of the major toothpaste brands," said Justice Pratibha M Singh.