Delhi HC directs ITC to suspend ad campaign till Monday
07 Apr 2018
The Delhi High Court has directed ITC to suspend an ad campaign asking its rivals including PepsiCo and Dabur to join it in an effort to abandon concentrates.
The court asked ITC not to publish the ‘impugned’ ad in the print, electronic or social media till Monday when the next hearing will take place.
ITC in its outdoor media campaign for its B Natural juice had urged rivals including PepsiCo and Dabur to abandon concentrates in their respective brands Tropicana and Real.
‘#SayNoToConcentrate,’ said the ITC ads in its campaign for B Natural. While Dabur apparently ignored it, PepsiCo moved the high court against the campaign.
“The court directed ITC to suspend the advertising campaign and remove all references to the Tropicana brand as well as #SayNoToConcentrate, as it is derogatory to the category of concentrate juices,” said Deepika Warrier, vice-president, nutrition, PepsiCo India. “ITC has been asked to take steps for removal of their campaign from all hoardings, electronic media and print media.”
ITC refused to comment on the court directions. The company claims that it does not use concentrates to produce B Natural, which is made from fruits. It launched its pomegranate juice last year.