HUL to be sued by P&G for controversial Ad .

Only a month back, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) was dragged to the advertising regulator by Procter & Gamble (P&G) for a shampoo ad.

But now, P&G is planning to take legal action against HUL because it says its detergent brand Tide has been shown in bad light in the latest Rin ad.

The battle for ‘safedi ki chamkaar’ and better fragrance will now move from TV screens into the courtrooms, as P&G is planning to file a defamation case against arch rival HUL for the latest Rin ad, said sources.

Though P&G in a statement said, "We are aware of a disparaging advertisement on air against one of our brands. We will however continue to stay focused on growing our share via delighting consumers and focusing our communication on the benefits of our brand. As per company policy, we do not comment on any future plans."

But P&G's counter attack won't stop here. They will also approach the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) where few cases against HUL are pending already.

Alan Collaco, secretary general of ASCI, said, “We have received complaints from two consumers so we will take the case up with HUL. A notice will be sent to HUL on Wednesday, after which we will give them a 15-day period to respond.”

But with dropping laundry share, almost 4 per cent just last year, HUL's move was more to do with washing away declining share in a market worth Rs 11,000 crore.

A month back, Rin's market share at 4.8 per cent was almost half in size to that of Tide, which stood at 8.8 per cent. No wonder, HUL is desperate to win back its market share not only from Tide, but also from regional players.

According to sources, both HUL as well as P&G are planning more offensive ads for other brands in their portfolio. And when the biggest advertisers in the country decide to do that, many of the upcoming ads could surely heat up TV screens and of course competition this summer.