ASA Adjudication on Reckitt Benckiser (UK) Ltd

Ad

A TV ad showed a woman at the supermarket checkout. The male voice-over stated "A cheap water softener could sometimes turn out to be rather expensive" as an unbranded box labelled "water softener" was passed through the till. The woman looked horrified and said "How much?" as the till read £484.78. On-screen text stated "Average cost Comet online 19/06/09". Another woman at the till stated, "Well there's a new washing machine and not only that there's the water damage and the breakdown costs", as the till price spiralled up to £638. On-screen text stated "Hard water areas". The voice-over stated "You're better off using Calgon in every wash" as a picture of the product appeared on-screen followed by images of the inside of a washing machine. The voice-over continued "It reaches all your machine's important parts, giving you maximum protection against lime scale". Back at the till one of the women said "Some things are worth paying a bit extra for" as a box of Calgon was passed through the till. A female voice-over said "Quality pays off". The original purchaser at the till said "Can't argue with that, I'll take it". The final male voice-over said "Calgon is recommended by leading washing machine manufacturers". On-screen text and voice-over stated "WASHING MACHINES LIVE LONGER WITH CALGON".

Issue

Two viewers objected that the ad was misleading because they did not believe that the cost of buying Calgon over the course of the life-time of a washing machine would save users money as advertised.

BCAP TV Code

Response

Reckitt Benckiser (UK) Ltd (Reckitt Benckiser) said Calgon worked by removing calcium and magnesium ions from water and softening it. They said regular use of Calgon cut down lime scale build-up, and they believed that, when used in every wash, it would help to protect a washing machine and extend its effective working life. They said the product had been tested internally and in independent external studies. They said recent surveys of washing machine repairmen showed that lime scale was a major cause of washing machine breakdowns. They said lime scale could cause damage to the heating element, the motor, pipes and seals, as well as the drum.

Reckitt Benckiser said the overall lifespan of a washing machine would depend on many factors, such as how often the machine was used and how hard the water in the area was. They said, due to testing, they were confident that regular use of Calgon would help reduce lime scale build up and so help reduce the need for costly repairs. They said the average cost of purchasing a new washing machine was considered to be £484.78. They said the till in the ad clearly displayed that figure and then rapidly increased, but no upper figure was displayed and the £639 figure could only be discerned by freezing frames, which was not how the ad was intended to be viewed. They said the cost of Calgon was £4.06 for fifteen tablets (equivalent to 27p per wash).

Reckitt Benckiser said half of all washing machines broke down in the first four years. They said data showed that the average number of washes undertaken per week was five. By using Calgon, Reckitt Benckiser said, the amount of laundry detergent required was reduced, according to detergent manufacturers' directions for use. Taking those savings into account, they calculated the direct cost of using Calgon in every wash was £37.70 per year.

They said it was difficult to determine how much a breakdown due to lime scale would cost to repair. They said they had data to show that machine failure was most commonly caused by lime scale-related matters, and that engineer call-outs and repairs were expensive. They believed it was highly probable that using Calgon would result in an overall saving being made by consumers and considered that a machine would need to survive for more than twelve years without a lime scale related failure for the purchase of Calgon not to be likely to be economical.

Clearcast believed half of all washing machines broke down within four years and that, in hard water areas, lime scale was a major cause of breakdowns. They said £484.78 was the average cost of a washing machine at Comet at the time they approved the script. They said on-screen text made that clear by stating "Average cost, Comet online 18.06.09". They said it was virtually impossible to agree a definite or average figure for washing machine water damage and break-down costs. They said they had taken an average of the cost of laminate flooring from Homebase as well as other associated costs such as paint which might result from water damage of a washing machine breakdown. They said it was agreed the till counter in the ad could run up to represent additional costs but that it shouldn't be fixed on an identifiable total. They said at the time the ad was approved, using Calgon in every wash, assuming five washes a week, cost £1.35 which was £70.20 a year and £280.80 over four years. They said that did not include the fact that, with Calgon, less detergent could be used, which represented an additional saving.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the chemical mechanisms by which water softeners could help prevent the build up of lime scale were generally scientifically accepted. We acknowledged that, in hard water areas, water softeners could help prevent the build up of lime scale on a variety of household appliances.

We noted the manner in which Reckitt Benckiser and Clearcast had sought to estimate a rough figure for a saving which might be made in a hard water area if a consumer used Calgon regularly, in terms of reducing the risk of washing machine break-down due to lime scale and the repair or replacement costs associated with that. We considered that, although the counter on the till in the ad was running quickly, six hundred and something pounds was a figure likely to be visible to viewers. Whilst we accepted that using a water softener in a washing machine in a hard water area might save money on breakdown and replacement costs, in order to prove the claim "You're better off using Calgon in every wash", which implied all consumers in hard water areas would save money, we considered we would need to see comparative testing on washing machines run with and without Calgon over time and the associated cost calculations. We noted the Market Transformation Programme estimated that the average lifespan of a washing machine in the UK was 12.09 years.

Because we had not seen comparative data to show that consumers would save £600 or more in washing machine breakdown or replacement costs using Calgon compared to using nothing, we concluded Reckitt Benckiser had not justified the claims.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence), 5.4.6 (Comparative advertising).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)