Worcestershire vacuum cleaner manufacturer Vax has won a dust up with rival Dyson over an advertisement. The Droitwich based Vax advertised its products in the Argus and Grattan catalogues under the slogan “No loss of suction – cleans as good as the first time, every time”.
This claim was supported by independent laboratory testing. Dyson complained to the Advertising Standards Association, alleging that Vax’s claim was misleading.
Dyson said it believed that “in circumstances similar to domestic use, the cleaners did lose suction”, according to the ASA written ruling on the dispute.
“Dyson believed the standards referred to the ad did not approximate to how the cleaners would be realistically used, because they were carried out to a minimum standard with an empty cleaner, and did not reflect the fact that suction might be lost as the receptacle filled with dust over time.” Dyson also believed that use of the phrase “no loss of suction” took advantage of the reputation of its own products.
In response, Vax said its claim was validated by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the leading organisation for drafting and publishing standards for electrical goods.
The test was not a minimum standard and did reflect the fact that suction might be lost as the receptacle filled with dust over time.
“They argued that, not only was that the appropriate test to demonstrate a “˜no loss of suction claim’, but also that they believed Dyson supported its own “˜loss of suction’claim using the same test.”
Vax went on to tell the ASA that it did not understand how the ads could be taken as a comparison with any other company’s machines.
“Because of that we concluded that the ads did not take advantage of the reputation of Dyson’s products, and were not misleading,” the ruling concluded.
Funnily enough both appear to be squabbling over bagless cleaners that do the same thing and that we don’t rate anyway, it’s all a bit silly really.
