Big Stink over Kitty Litter Ad: NY Judge Rules Against Clorox’s Fresh Step Cat Litter Commercial
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on January 5, 2012
NY federal judge ruled that Clorox Pet Products Co. must stop airing a cat litter commercial
Back to the kitty litter advertising drawing board… what a thankless job it must be to develop non-repulsive, compelling advertising that praises a product that is intended to effectively capture and contain the stench of cat poop and urine.
Thumbs up to truth in advertising…
From New York Daily News, Clorox fights with Arm & Hammer over kitty litter:
A MANHATTAN Federal Court judge stepped into a legal cat fight Wednesday over kitty litter.
A TV ad that claims cats prefer Clorox’s Fresh Step cat litter over Arm & Hammer’s Super Scoop was put on hold after a federal Judge Jed Rakoff took issue with the science behind the claim.
In the TV test, Clorox sealed jars of cat waste for 22 to 26 hours before subjecting them to the feline sniffers.
“In actual practice, however, cats do not seal their waste, and smells offend as much during the first 22 hours as they do afterward,” ruled Rakoff after conducting an evidentiary hearing.
Arm & Hammer’s parent, Church & Dwight, had sued Clorox for false advertising.
From Yahoo News/AP, NY judge: No lives left for cat litter commercial:
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York federal judge says the Clorox Pet Products Co. must stop airing a cat litter commercial that unfairly seeks supremacy over a competitor.
The Clorox ad was aimed at Church & Dwight Co. Inc.’s Arm & Hammer brands of cat litter. It claimed a smell test involving a jar proves Clorox’s Fresh Step cat litter outperforms Church & Dwight’s products.
The judge found it “highly implausible” 11 panelists would “stick their noses in jars of excrement and report 44 independent times that they smelled nothing unpleasant.” He found the claims “literally false.”
Oakland, Calif.-based Clorox says it’s disappointed in Tuesday’s ruling. It says it defends the ad’s truthfulness.
From MSNBC, Kitty litter ad doesn’t pass smell test, judge rules:
A New York judge has found it implausible that a panel of 11 testers would stick their noses into jars containing cat poop — repeatedly — and say that they couldn’t smell anything in the jars of excrement treated with carbon.
Really?
The judge, U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff (better known for being tough on Wall Street shenanigans), ruled Wednesday that Clorox Co. could not air ads about its Fresh Step kitty litter after rival company, Church & Dwight, claimed the ads were false. Rakoff ruled that the ads likely have caused Church & Dwight’s business irreperable harm.
Rakoff issued a preliminary injunction to halt the ad, which began airing last February, while litigation continues.
In its commercial, Clorox featured what Church & Dwight described as “playful home videos” of cats engaging in “clever behavior,” with a voiceover describing how cats are “smart enough” to choose litter with less odor.
It then showed green gas floating through two beakers. One held Fresh Step and a black substance labeled “carbon,” and the other a white substance labeled “baking soda.” The voiceover said: “We make Fresh Step scoopable litter with carbon, which is more effective at absorbing odors than baking soda.”
Church & Dwight said the ad sent a false message that cat litter with baking soda fights odor less well than Fresh Step.
While not named in the ad, Arm & Hammer is the only major cat litter brand that uses baking soda.
All this kitty litter news made me think about this classic music video from the second season of Friends — the infamous “Smelly Cat.”
Friends: Phoebe Buffay – Smelly Cat Music Video
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