“#1” Pet Product Claims Attract NAD Scrutiny
Support the exact claim consumers are likely to take away
A few weeks ago, I wrote about a “#1 Best Selling Beets Brand” NAD case. This week, let’s look at “#1” claims in the animal-product world.
This National Advertising Division (NAD) competitor challenge is about flea-and-tick products. Several claims were challenged, such as “#1 vet-recommended” active ingredients, “#1 Brand in Total Flea & Tick Solutions,” and “#1 Fastest Growing Flea & Tick Brand.”
NAD found that the company did support its “#1 vet-recommended active ingredients” messaging, as its survey evidence supported the narrow message that veterinarians recommend the combination of imidacloprid + flumethrin more than other flea-and-tick collar active-ingredient combinations.
This is a great example to show how narrow substantiation can support a narrow claim. The evidence supported the ingredient combination message, but it did not automatically substantiate that the company was the #1 brand or the best product.
NAD reached a different conclusion about the “#1 Brand in Total Flea & Tick Solutions” claim, finding that reasonable consumers may interpret “The #1 Brand” as an overall market-leadership claim. NAD found that the evidence did not support that broader takeaway.
The unqualified “#1 Fastest Growing Flea & Tick Brand” claim was also found to be unsupported, and NAD recommended discontinuing it or updating it to disclose what metric was measured, the time period, the sales channels, and whether the comparison was against all brands or only leading brands.
This is an important distinction.
Saying “#1 vet-recommended active ingredients” is not the same as “#1 brand.”
The key takeaway is that nuances matter, and claiming to be #1 of anything in a competitive market will invite extra scrutiny.
Read the NAD case summary here.
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