Butter cookies – who has more butter!
Comparative Advertising is used to influence consumers by comparing competing brands on various parameters and to prove that I am the best, so buy me. This is used successfully in categories like automobiles, white goods (e.g., AC and Refrigerators).
Amul first posted the content of its butter cookies (on twitter) and asked netizens to compare the butter content in butter cookies of other brands. When consumers checked the most known Good Day cookies from Britannia has barely butter in its cookies (25% Amul vs. 0.3 – 3% other brands), they expressed shock, surprise and anger toward misleading claims.
Britannia waited for few weeks – may be thinking how to handle this because their social media presence is almost negligible. Finally they put another comparative ad – where they counter the 25% butter fact of Amul by bringing a new component of ‘Cholesterol‘ and claim that 25% butter cookie has 7 times more cholesterol. Both the brands did not take each other’s name in their respective ads but it was easy to make it who is being targeted. ASCI has no issue with comparative ads.
However, the online fans are fighting and the issue is widely covered in media such as brand equity and Campaign India.
Now, the problem with Britannia counter ad is – going by the tweets – first, the issue is about butter content, which they lack and hence calling cookies as butter cookies is misleading as one tweet says ‘Dishonest marketing’. The fact has to be fought with facts. They tried to divert attention to something which is also questionable. You can google about butter and cholesterol and there is a lot of research which says butter cholesterol does not have negative impact (and some with opposite results). The details are too technical for this forum but its suffice to say that there is no clear decision whether butter is bad for health.
It would be interesting to see if Amul continues this war – or just let it go – because they have made their point and consumers know it – Butter cookies MUST have butter!
