i think i saw this in Del Taco advertisment
2006-10-10 22:29:04 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Advertising & Marketing ➔ Other - Advertising & Marketing
As far as you don't lie you can do it. You can "challenge "your competitor like Pepsi did in the seventies in a campaign were people were blindfolded and asked what taste they preferred (Pepsi won against Coca Cola). Tylenol, Advil, and many others have claimed that in 'clinical' studies it was found that their product was faster in relieving or more effective, etc. This is not illegal but if you do it you might be starting an advertising war and you'd better be prepared by fixing any weaknesses in your product.
Before your make any false claims or comparisons be aware that we are all protected by laws, your competitor included.
To summarize, if your product has genuine advantages over the other, its OK to point them out and to point out any weaknesses in the other, but the claims has to based in facts.
One more thing: if you name a trademark you have to name the trademark owner ( As in: "Fanta is a trademark of Coca Cola Bottling Co. ®").
2006-10-10 22:36:35 · answer #1 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it is bordering between legal and ethical. The competitor may sue the company for using it in a commercial and stating some negative comments about it. If, however, the company may not sue it, it somehow reflects the company's incompetence because it needs to destroy and compare a more famous brand than theirs. There's a case in our place where the "new" detergent keeps on stating that their product is a lot better than the more famous brand. Although they never let the audience hear the brand on TV, you can guess it with the way they open their lips. The famous brand did not sue the newbie to court but it maintained its claim to good quality. The new product, at the start had a lot of sales. But as time passed by, the people got tired of the new product's commercial and got back to the more famous one because it is really good in removing stains. Now, it is already out of the market and the famous one still expands its sales today. It is really not good to destroy another products' status just to gain popular demand.
2006-10-10 23:06:37 · answer #2 · answered by Monzi 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, as long as what you are saying is strictly factual. So you can say 'Our burger contains more beef than product x' but you can't say 'Our burger is better than product x'. You can also give results of surveys such as 'People prefer our burger to product x' as long as the research is available and has been properly carried out.
2006-10-10 22:33:20 · answer #3 · answered by stienbabe 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
IF the name or logo is a registered trademark then it would be classed as infringement of copywright, ie intelectual theft.
2006-10-10 22:38:36 · answer #4 · answered by lefang 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
as far as i have seen, advertisers carefully avoid mentioning their competitors' company/brand names. to me it does seem that they are following the law.
2006-10-10 22:31:59 · answer #5 · answered by Dr Muhammad Shoyab 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They do it all the time. Look at subway and their commercials... they compare their sandwiches to McDonald's all the time.
As long as you have acknowledge the other companies trademarks, you're fine.
2006-10-10 22:30:43 · answer #6 · answered by iswd1 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on each country's law. In the USA it is NOT illegal - it's common practice. I don't know how the UK law specify this issue.
2006-10-13 01:03:20 · answer #7 · answered by Borat2® 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no
2006-10-10 22:30:13 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋