Dabur fires a fresh salvo against Marico’s Parachute hair oil

Comparative advertising is a slippery slope. In this case, more so because the product being compared is oil. Last Sunday (Aug 22, 2021), Dabur rolled out a front-page ad in The Telegraph newspaper claiming its ‘Anmol Jasmine’ hair oil brand “gives soft and shiny hair & 66% more oil” than Parachute Jasmine (Marico) hair oil brand.

Accompanying the copy was the image of both hair oil brands' bottles and even here Dabur showed it offers 40 ml for Rs 10 while Parachute Jasmine offers only 24 ml for Rs 10. We also couldn’t miss the intentional placement of the bottles that ended up making Dabur’s brand dwarf Marico’s Parachute.

What’s interesting is the fact that this is not the first time Dabur has duelled with Marico. In November 2019, Dabur took out the front page ads in English and Hindi dailies to showcase how its hair oil product 'Anmol Gold' coconut oil at a much better value than Marico’s Parachute coconut oil.

It mentioned three supporting points which said, ’23% less price, 100% quality guaranteed and Dabur's 135 years of trust’. In the end, the brand asked the readers ‘when are you switching your coconut oil?’

And the second page of the dailies carried the ad for Dabur Amla hair oil against a bottle that resembled Marico’s Nihar Shanti Amla oil. The copy read, ‘Cheap Amla hair oil made my hair weak and they started to break and fall. That's when I decide I'll never compromise on my hair oil. I will only use, Asli Amla, Dabur Amla.

Dabur’s beef with Marico is not restricted only to hair oil. In October last year (2020), Dabur released an ad where it extolled its honey’s purity and took an indirect dig at Saffola’s honey. This after Dabur had filed a case against Saffola in July for imitating its honey bottle.