HUL, Mamaearth in Court Over Sunscreen Ads

New Delhi, Apr 16 (PTI)
Honasa Consumer, the owner of the FMCG brand Mamaearth, and Hindustan Unilever Ltd have filed lawsuits against each other in their ongoing dispute over claims related to sunscreen product advertisements.

Earlier, Honasa Consumer Ltd (HCL) moved the Delhi High Court, contending the claims made by Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) as disparaging and misleading.

The matter was heard by the Delhi High Court, which issued notice to HUL and posted the matter for hearing on Thursday.

HCL has alleged that a recent Lakme sunscreen campaign titled 'SPF Lie Detector Test' unfairly undermines competing products, including one that closely resembles a sunscreen from The Derma Co, another brand from HCL.

Responding to that, HUL has also filed a separate lawsuit before the Bombay High Court against Honasa Consumer.

According to industry sources, the respective High Courts have listed the matter for the hearing on the sunscreen issue for Wednesday.

The entire controversy started after HCL Co-founder Ghazal Alagh, in a LinkedIn post, alleged that the fast-moving consumer goods industry has "lacked good competition" for a long time, leading to large traditional brands becoming complacent.


She was referring to a recent ad campaign from HUL for its beauty brand Lakme's sunscreen, where the market leader has challenged the claims of rival sunscreen brands.

In the campaign for Lakme's SPF 50 sunscreen, launched recently, HUL asserts that certain "online bestseller sunscreens" claiming SPF 50 actually offer far lower protection, closer to SPF 20.

Though HUL, in its campaign, doesn't name any brand, the image and video contrast several yellow bottles with Lakme's packaging and cites in-vivo SPF testing from the last 10 years.

In a statement on social media platforms, Lakme said, "Some brands, currently on the online best sellers list, are claiming to be in-vivo tested; however, their in-market sunscreen product sample delivers SPF 20 against a claim of SPF 50.

In vivo is a clinical method of testing, which means "within the living" and refers to biological processes or experiments conducted within a whole, living organism, such as a human, animal, or plant.

According to German data gathering platform Statista, the Indian sunscreen market is estimated to be around USD 832.32 million. The market will experience an annual growth rate of 6 per cent for the next five years till 2030.

Sun protection is a booming market in India, driven by the high demand for sunscreen products due to the country's hot and tropical climate.

Apart from HUL, other companies include L'Oreal, Nykaa, and Honasa in this segment.