Unilever, P&G out-of-court talks over Ariel ad collapse

The court had given the duo till Wednesday to produce a settlement report, failure to which the dispute would be settled by the Judiciary.

READ: Out-of-court talks to resolve Ariel ad row

Unilever, which manufactures Omo washing powder, is aggrieved by P&G’s prime time television advert that promotes Ariel as the best stain removal detergent in one wash.

“The out-of-court talk has not been successful since the defendants have failed to release some of the necessary documents. We can now go ahead and take the hearing date for the applications,” Unilever lawyer Kamau Karori told Justice Jacqueline Kamau.

P&G has been keen on resolving the dispute outside the courts on the strength that the court battle may hurt both brands and that the negative publicity in the media would erode customer confidence in the products.

Ariel has been locked in a fierce competition with Omo for a share of Kenya’s laundry market. Research puts Ariel’s market share at 24.4 per cent and that of Omo at 28.2 per cent.

Justice Kamau extended the orders issued in September suspending the broadcasting and publication of the Ariel advertisement, and directed the two firms to seek hearing dates on the row.

Procter & Gamble East Africa was at first listed as defendant before disowning the Ariel advert. This forced Unilever to withdraw and file afresh suit against the parent firm, P&G.

P&G supplies the Kenyan market with Ariel products manufactured by its subsidiary in Egypt.

Currently there are three different applications before the High Court, two filed by Unilever and the other by P&G.

Unilever also objected to a proposal by P&G to refer the dispute to the advertisers’ self-regulatory agency for arbitration, saying the decision would be partial.

It also maintained that the committee had no jurisdiction to deal with statutory and constitutional issues raised in the dispute.