ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has imposed a Rs75 million penalty on Unilever Pakistan and Friesland Campina Engro for deceptive marketing on social media and television to mislead consumers.
The CCP bench, comprising Salman Amin and Saeed Ahmed Nawaz, conducted these hearings on the complaint filed by Pakistan Fruit Juice Company (Private) Limited, makers of ‘Hico’ ice cream.
The complainant alleged that the aforementioned companies — manufacturers and distributors of “Walls” and “Omore” — engaged in deceptive marketing by advertising their “frozen desserts” as “ice cream”.
Following a formal inquiry into the matter, the commission issued show-cause notices to Unilever Pakistan and Friesland Campina Engro for violating advertising standards and misleading consumers.
Apart from imposing heavy fines, both companies have been ordered to remove misleading advertisements from digital platforms also and make adequate disclosure about their products. CCP also sought a compliance report from the companies in this regard within 30 days of the Order.
Additionally, a penalty of Rs20 million was also imposed on Unilever Pakistan for “conducting and disseminating false comparisons of their products” as healthier to the dairy ice cream in its advertisements, which constitutes a violation of Section 10(2)(c) of the Competition Act.
The bench while imposing the penalty in its order, inter-alia referred to the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) PS 969-2010 and the Punjab Pure Food Regulations 2018, which define “frozen dessert” and “ice cream’ as two distinct products.
As per the act, “ice cream” is made from milk, cream, or other dairy products, while “frozen desserts” are prepared from a pasteurized mix consisting of a combination of milk, milk products, and edible vegetable oils.
