National Advertising Review Board Recommends Colgate Discontinue “Removes 10 Years of Yellow Stains” Claim for Optic White Renewal Toothpaste

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New York, NY – June 17, 2021 – A panel of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB), the appellate advertising law body of BBB National Programs, has recommended that Colgate-Palmolive Company discontinue the claim that Optic White Renewal Toothpaste “removes 10 years of yellow stains” based on its determination that the claim is not supported by the advertiser’s evidence. 

The advertising at issue, along with certain other claims for Optic White Renewal Toothpaste, had been challenged by the Procter and Gamble Company (P&G) before the National Advertising Division (NAD). Following NAD’s decision ( Case No. 6914), Colgate appealed to NARB the NAD recommendation that its “removes 10 years of yellow stains” claim be discontinued.

In support of its “removes 10 years of yellow stains” claim, the advertiser relied principally on three studies: (i) the “Sullivan Study,” research sponsored by Colgate and published in the Journal of Dentistry in 2019; (ii) the “McKenzie Study,” described in a one-half page undated abstract presented at a professional conference in 2019; and (iii) an unpublished “Clinical Study” conducted by Colgate in 2018. The panel evaluated this substantiation and concluded that the claim has not been properly supported and should be withdrawn. 

Colgate stated that it “will discontinue its use of the challenged ‘removes 10 years of yellow stains’ claim in connection with Colgate Optic White Renewal toothpaste,” but noted that it “strongly disagrees with NARB’s decision,” which it believes “includes factual and substantive inaccuracies, is not in accordance with NARB procedures, and misstates Colgate’s positions and arguments.”

All BBB National Programs case decision summaries can be found in the case decision library. For the full text of NAD, NARB, and Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) decisions, subscribe to the online archive.

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About BBB National Programs: BBB National Programs is where businesses turn to enhance consumer trust and consumers are heard. The non-profit organization creates a fairer playing field for businesses and a better experience for consumers through the development and delivery of effective third-party accountability and dispute resolution programs. Embracing its role as an independent organization since the restructuring of the Council of Better Business Bureaus in June 2019, BBB National Programs today oversees more than a dozen leading national industry self-regulation programs, and continues to evolve its work and grow its impact by providing business guidance and fostering best practices in arenas such as advertising, child-directed marketing, and privacy. To learn more, visit bbbprograms.org.

About the National Advertising Review Board (NARB): The National Advertising Review Board (NARB) is the appellate body for BBB National Programs’ advertising self-regulatory programs. NARB’s panel members include 87 distinguished volunteer professionals from the national advertising industry, agencies, and public members, such as academics and former members of the public sector. NARB serves as a layer of independent industry peer review that helps engender trust and compliance in NAD, CARU, and DSSRC matters.