Two big names in the highly competitive Australian dishwashing tablet market violated consumer law with unscientific claims their premium products were better than others in their own range, a court has found.
Procter & Gamble, the makers of 30-Minute Miracle and Fairy dishwashing tablets engaged in misleading conduct, making representations that were liable to give consumers the wrong impression.
Reckitt Benckiser as RB (Hygiene Home) did the same with its Finish Ultimate Plus tablets.
Federal Court Justice David Yates found Procter & Gamble's Miracle tablets were not better at cleaning than the company's Fairy range in a 30-minute wash, while there was no meaningful difference between RB's Finish Ultimate Plus and Finish Ultimate Pro.
The judgment, published on Thursday, notes the market is highly competitive with consumers heavily influenced firstly by price, and secondly, performance claims about the efficacy of products.
Miracle had a different formula and a significantly higher price per tablet than Fairy Platinum Plus when it launched in March.
The packaging noted its performance claim was compared to Fairy tablets.
"What is significant is that the statement is in very small font. For practical purposes it is inconspicuous," the judgment reads.
Many consumers would fail to see it even on a prolonged inspection of the packaging, the judge said.
Miracle was also said to have "boosted cleaning power" and "stain removal technology" compared to other products in the Fairy range, categories left off newer versions of the packaging following a court injunction.
RB explained its new "Cyclesync optimised release technology" on the back of its packaging when it launched Finish Ultimate Plus tablets, also in March.
"The information is printed in extremely small font and is extremely difficult to read," Justice Yates said.
The judge doubted whether reasonable, ordinary consumers would bother, however RB going to the trouble to include it indicated the company was "striving to communicate the quoted information".
Finish Ultimate Plus, Finish Ultimate Pro, Miracle, Fairy Platinum Plus, and Fairy Platinum all underwent independent lab testing.
The only statistically significant difference found was attributable to water hardness, and only for tea stains.
RB had represented Finish Ultimate Plus was better than all its other dishwashing tablets.
The judge will hear from the parties again on final forms of injunctive relief but indicated both companies will need to design new packaging, and refrain from representing their premium tier products as being any better at cleaning "when there is no adequate foundation in scientific knowledge for that claim".
