Ad Law Group Scores Win for BISSELL

On behalf of BISSELL, the advertising team successfully challenged Electrolux Home Care Products’ advertising claims for its Eureka Atlantis Extractor’s OptiHEAT tank feature. The team, led by John Villafranco and Christie Grymes Thompson, challenged Electrolux’s advertising claims that the product supplies a benefit to consumers by generating and/or maintaining the ​“optimal” amount of heat required for superior cleaning results. The team argued that the product actually does nothing to generate heat or to increase the temperature of the tap water the consumer puts into the unit and that, in contrast, BISSELL’s extractor actually includes a built-in heater that gives its product a substantial benefit over its competitors’ products. The National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus recommended that Electrolux modify and/or discontinue its advertising claims, including a red light that appears on the product, to more accurately reflect the capabilities of the OptiHEAT cleaner. The NAD also found that Electrolux should discontinue its comparative claims regarding the temperature maintenance versus other cleaners and the accompanying phrases ​“2X suction power” and ​“Maximum suction power.”