Gsharp Corporation Taiwan Branch

Case:

Key Words:

repellent, comparison advertisement

Reference:

Fair Trade Commission Decision of June 7, 2007 (the 813th Commissioners' Meeting); Disposition (96) Kung Ch'u Tzu No. 096110

Industry:

Wholesale of Cleaning Preparations (4567)

Relevant Laws:

Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law

Summary:

1. This case originated from a complaint letter filed by Ping Heng International Co. Ltd. (hereinafter called "Ping Heng") stating that: Gsharp Corporation Taiwan Branch (hereinafter called "Gsharp") presented untrue pictures in the comparison advertisement published in the print media; such an act gave Gsharp's consumers an impression that the effect of applying the Burt's Bees Herbal Insect Repellent was extremely greasy. Gsharp violated Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law.
2. Findings of FTC after investigation: The pictures presented in the advertisement concerned were to contrast the application effect of the Off Insect Repellent Cream and the application effect of the B repellent; on top of the Off Insect Repellent Cream, the oil clean sheet in the picture of a hand was fresh and not greasy, but on top of the B repellent, the oil clean sheet in the picture of a hand was very greasy, and the arm and fingers were shining and greasy. Although Gsharp argued that the pictures which presented the degree of grease were taken after applying the two products with the same dose and indicator, and smearing the products over the objects in the same way, the advertising company stated that the picture of a hand of the B repellent was produced by firstly photographing the whole arm and hand after smearing the B repellent. Then the greasy feel in the photo was imitated to the picture in the advertisement, resulting the shine and grease on the whole arm and hand. Therefore, the FTC found that the B repellent was applied to the whole arm and hand and the Off Insect Repellent Cream was only applied to the part of the hand where the oil clean sheet was used. These two facts formed the representations in the advertisement. Additionally, Gsharp added red and swollen marks by repair in the picture on top of the B repellent to show that the marks were a result of mosquito bites.
3. Grounds for disposition:
1. As in the market, the Burt's Bees Herbal Insect Repellent was the only brand whose word started with B, and the appearance of the B repellent was almost an imitated image of the appearance of the Burt's Bees Herbal Insect Repellent, the said advertisement clearly showed that the brands were compared. Additionally, in accordance with the findings of FTC after investigation, directions for use of the Burt's Bees Herbal Insect Repellent were largely different from those of the Off Insect Repellent Cream; and the consumers who observed the representations of the advertisement did not know that the two products were not applied with the same dose. These parts of the representations in the advertisement were deemed to be untrue. Additionally, after the consumers observed the overall advertisement, they were misled that the Burt's Bees Herbal Insect Repellent was much greasier than the product concered after the application of the two products. Gsharp, furthermore, added that red and swollen marks showing mosquito bites in the picture on top of the B repellent would mislead the consumers that the Burt's Bees Herbal Insect Repellent had no protection effect. The overall impression conveyed by the representations was that the act that Gsharp presented untrue comparison advertisement on the application effect of the Burt's Bees Herbal Insect Repellent resulted in unfairness and therefore, Gsharp violated Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law.
2. After taking into account each circumstance, the motive of the unlawful act of Gsharp, the degree of the unlawful act's harm to trading order, the duration of the actions, the benefits derived on account of the unlawful act, scale of business and remorse shown for the act and attitude of cooperation in the investigation, the FTC ordered Gsharp to cease the aforesaid unlawful acts and imposed an administrative fine of NT$600,000 in accordance with the fore part of Article 41 of the Fair Trade Law.

Appendix:
Gsharp Corporation Taiwan Branch's Uniform Invoice Number: 20831783

Summarized by Cheng, Shih-Yu; Supervised by Yeh, Tien-Fu