NAD Recommends Discontinuance of Certain “Natural” Claims for Air Wick Essential Mist and Scented Oils; Finds “Lasts up to 60 days” Claim Supported

New York, NY – June 10, 2020 – The National Advertising Division (NAD) recommended that Reckitt Benckiser discontinue certain challenged “natural” claims for Air Wick Fragrance Essential Mist and Air Wick Scented Oils, but determined that the advertiser’s durational claim that Scented Oils “lasts up to 60 days” was substantiated. The claims were challenged by S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., manufacturer of the competing Glade brand of home fragrance products.  

The claims challenged by S.C. Johnson, which appeared in online advertising, in television commercials, on product packaging, and on Reckitt Benckiser’s website, included but were not limited to: 

Express claims: 

With regard to the advertiser’s “natural” claims, NAD noted that the products contain a mixture of natural and synthetic ingredients. Though it was undisputed that these products contain some measure of natural essential oils, the focus was on whether Reckitt Benckiser’s advertising reasonably conveys any unsupported messages about the “natural” content. 

The Essential Mist challenged commercials do not indicate that the product contains synthetic content. NAD determined that the language “transforming natural essential oils into a fragrant mist,” combined with the imagery in the commercials, reasonably conveys an unsupported message that the essential oils are the only or primary ingredient and that the Essential Mist generates an all naturally derived scent or a predominantly naturally derived scent.  NAD determined that similar unsupported messages are reasonably conveyed in certain product packaging and online advertising as well, and as a result, recommended that Reckitt Benckiser discontinue the challenged “natural” claims for the Essential Mist made in its commercials, online advertising, and on product packaging, including claims that the Essential Mist  “transforms” natural essential oils into mist.  NAD noted that nothing in its decision precludes Reckitt Benckiser from making truthful, non-misleading claims about the natural essential oil content of its Essential Mist products. 

With regard to the advertising for Scented Oils, NAD determined that the prominent display of “100%,” the natural imagery, and the absence of any hint that the Scented Oils contain synthetic ingredients in the product’s commercials led to an impression that the product is all-natural, a claim not supported by the record.  Accordingly, NAD recommended that Reckitt Benckiser discontinue the challenged execution of “infused with essential oils that are 100% natural" in its Scented Oils commercial, or in the alternative, modify the commercial to decrease the visual prominence of “100%” and otherwise avoid conveying the misleading message that the product is 100% natural. 

Further, NAD determined that while the language “Infused with Natural Essential Oils” standing alone is not misleading, as it appears on the front panel of the Scented Oils packaging it could reasonably convey a misleading message that the products contain more natural content than they do. Therefore, NAD recommended that the advertiser modify the front panel of the Scented Oils’  packaging to more prominently display the “infused with” language and that it appear in a location where it cannot be obscured. NAD also recommended that Reckitt Benckiser discontinue the claim “Infused with 100% natural essentials oils” as it appears in some Scented Oils packaging, on the back panel, in a box resembling an ingredients panel.  NAD noted that nothing in its decision precludes Reckitt Benckiser from making truthful, non-misleading claims about the natural essential oil content of its Scented Oils products. 

Finally, with regard to the claim that Scented Oil refills last “up to 60 days,” NAD determined that Reckitt Benckiser’s in-house testing was reliable support and provided the advertiser with a reasonable basis for its durational claims across its line of Scented Oil products. Thus, NAD concluded that the advertiser’s claims that Scented Oils products last up to 60-days when operating on a low setting were substantiated. 

In its advertiser’s statement, Reckitt Benckiser stated that it will comply with NAD’s recommendations.