Lifebuoy soap makers Unilever has failed to convince the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) that its product offers protection against infections, which dismissed an appeal against a successful complaint from competitor Colgate-Palmolive.

A Business Insider report says late last year, Colgate-Palmolive succeeded in barring Unilever from claiming that its soaps offer protection from infection-causing germs.

When the ruling was made, the ARB ordered Unilever to drop claims from all advertising stating that its product protects against infection-causing germs.

The appeals committee agreed with Colgate, saying Lifebuoy is a cosmetic product and not a medicinal one.

In the recent appeal, Colgate stated in the hearings that Unilever had been using new packaging with a new claim that said: ‘100% Stronger Germ Protection’.

The commercial portrayed a character dressed in a white lab coat, which the ARB's appeals committee had an issue with.

‘As found in previous matters between the parties ... imagery of persons in “white coats” will be perceived to be doctors by consumers,’ it said.

‘Once the material is taken as part of the context within which the advertisement is executed, there is little doubt that the Lifebuoy Hygiene Soaps' claim conveys the impression that the soap has medicinal properties,’ it argued.

It said the advertisement went beyond merely claiming its soap protected against germs, but suggested that it was capable of defending against infections caused by germs.

‘For Unilever's argument to stand, the claim would have to be worded differently; for example – without prescribing to Unilever – that the soap protects against germs causing infections,’ it said.

The committee dismissed Unilever's appeal and instructed to it to pull all claims in its current form from all packaging.

Full Business Insider report