Ithaca College

Claims made by Philips Oral Healthcare LLC (“Philips”) for its Sonicare electric toothbrushes were challenged by The Procter & Gamble Company (“P&G”), maker of competing Oral-B electric toothbrushes.

 Panel #222 of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) has recommended that Philips Oral Healthcare, LLC (“Philips”) discontinue the challenged “removes significantly more plaque” claims for their Philips Sonicare Flexcare Platinum toothbrush. This decision does not preclude Philips from making a truthful and carefully qualified comparative single brushing plaque reduction claim based on the Maclure study. The panel believes that a carefully qualified comparative single brushing plaque reduction claim based on the Maclure study would, at a minimum, need to clearly and conspicuously (a) identify, in the body of the claim, the tested toothbrush models and brush heads; (b) disclose, in the body of the claim, that the toothbrushes were tested in deep clean mode for 3 minutes; and (c) disclose that the test results were based on a single brushing by test participants. 

NARB is the appellate unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation and administered by the the Council of Better Business Bureaus. NARB Panel #222 members were associate professor and panel chair, Scott R. Hamula, Chief Executive Officer of Intouch Solutions, Faruk Capan, Vice President of Brand Marketing at PepsiCo, Manos Spanos, and Senior Director of National Advertising and Marketing Programs for Amtrak-National Railroad Passenger Corp., Darlene Abubakar.

Philips has accepted, and will comply with, the panel’s decision. Further details and commercials are available on the IMC News Page.