ITC tweaks BNatural juice ad campaign following PepsiCo India suit

Consumer goods major ITC on Monday presented a revised ad campaign for its BNatural juice brand in the Delhi High Court following a suit filed by rival PepsiCo India last week.

An ITC spokesperson, however, said that the changes were an “interim arrangement” and that the company would file detailed objections to PepsiCo's suit and petition later.

The matter has been posted for hearing on May 9.

The Delhi High Court had restrained ITC on Friday (April 6) from running ads that mentioned PepsiCo brand Tropicana, asking it to ‘#saynotoconcentrate’.

ITC had begun the ad campaign on billboards in the Delhi market on Wednesday (April 4), and it continued till Friday (April 6), covering social media and print. The campaign had invited Tropicana and Real, which is Dabur's juice brand, to abandon concentrates. It had further said that the "journey" would begin on April 9.

On Monday, the revised campaign, placed before Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw of the Delhi High Court, had no mention of Tropicana and the phrase ‘#saynotoconcentrate’. Instead, the creative said: “We have pledged to go concentrate-free.”

Deepika Warrier, vice president (nutrition category), PepsiCo India, said the court directed ITC to use the revised campaign on all advertising platforms including social media, print and electronic media.

“ITC has further made a statement to court that it will not use PepsiCo's name or their brand in its ads or at its event in Mumbai. The court has also directed ITC to video record the event and allowed PepsiCo to also record the event,” Warrier said.

An ITC spokesperson, when contacted, said the changes in the ad campaign were being done “without prejudice to its contentions”.

ITC Limited