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HLL denies moving ASCI against Fena

Ratna Bhushan

NEW DELHI, July 10

HINDUSTAN Lever Ltd has denied that it has lodged a complaint in the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) against Fena's latest commercial for Fena detergent cake, featuring ace Bollywood comedian, Johnny Lever. The 30-second commercial, which w as aired on DD 1 during the programme Suraag, shows the star endorsing Fena in what comes across as a tongue-in-cheek dig at HLL, with the adline `Ab Lever bhai ka kehna, Fena hi lena'.

Denying recent media reports which stated that HLL had indeed complained to ASCI pertaining to the Fena commercial, Mr. Debasis Ray, Corporate Communications Manager, HLL, categorically told Business Line, ``We have not made any complaint to ASCI whatsoe ver. If a complaint has been lodged against the commercial, it is certainly not from Hindustan Lever.''

Officials at ASCI, too, refused to take a stand on the controversy, choosing to maintain a non-committal stance instead. Said a cautious Mr. Gualbert I. Pereira, Secretary General, ASCI, ``We are not in a position to confirm the news either way. Our poli cy is clear _ we cannot reveal the complainant's identity.''

Fena Ltd, on its part, has circulated `official' documents in the media according to which HLL has stated that the depiction of the protagonist in the Fena commercial (that of a politician being disregarded because of his poor whites) is a direct lift of f a radio spot for HLL's Rin Shakti brand which was aired during November-December 1999. According to the documents, the complaint also adds that one of the statements `Lever bhai bhi yeh mante hai' (Lever bhai also thinks the same) in the commercial is an obvious allusion to HLL.

Officials at Fena Ltd have issued a statement that the Fena commercial has not been plagiarised and that it is distinctly different from the Rin Shakti video spot.

This is not the first time HLL and Fena have locked horns. The earlier bone of contention was to do with HLL's claim of lemon power in the Wheel detergent powder and cake, towards the end of 1998. Fena had appealed to the Monopolies Restrictive Trade Pra ctices (MRTP) against the claim.

While Fena's objective may be to prop up market share and cut through the clutter in the highly competitive Rs. 5,000-crores detergent market, HLL appears to be wanting to wash its hands clean off the entire episode. A company official had earlier told t his paper that drawing a synergy between Johnny Lever's personality with that of the detergent brand conveyed in itself the kind of `image' Fena wanted its detergent brand to have.

With even the third party (ASCI, in this case), refusing to take sides on the issue, perhaps only time will be able to lift the veil on the controversy.