By Larysa Nikonova, The Day
Zaporizhzhia carried out a major cleanup lasting about four months. Initiated by a local independent consumer experts center, it was aimed at checking the quality of the most popular domestic and imported detergents.
26 brand names were purchased and used to cleanse 460 specimens of fabric stained in a variety of ways most characteristic of household mishaps (coffee, tea, butter, oil, ketchup, etc.).
“Our experts followed the directions printed on the packages, yet none of the tested products measured up to its advertising claims,” Center Director Lina Popova told The Day. “The only brand name that performed more or less adequately was Lotos, a domestic product that does not figure much in daily advertising. Remarkably, experts found most fault with Procter & Gamble’s Ariel and Tide which could not manage even such simple things like soiled cuffs and collars. In a word, these detergents turned out among the least effective. The marking on the package also raised questions. It read that the products came from Belgium, but the bar code pointed to the Czech Republic. We believe the manufacturer is consciously deceiving Ukrainian consumers by provided false commercial information. We are planning shortly to sue Procter & Gamble on behalf of Zaporizhzhia consumers, demanding a public apology and labeling corrections.”
Tetiana Kyseliova, director of the Derzhstandart (State Committee on Standardization, Certification, and Metrology) told The Day that this is just one of many complaints about the well-known Western company. “After mass television publicity people expect the practical results to match what they saw on the screen. However, the Tide and Ariel sold in Ukraine are noticeably different from their European equivalents,” Ms. Kyseliova pointed out. “And the company leadership makes no secret of the fact that products originating from the Czech Republic are made using simplified technologies. Accordingly, they cost two or three times less than in the West. Most consumers don’t know this, so that when a middle-aged woman living on her 48-hryvnia pension buys a pack of this detergent and then finds it ineffective she has every reason to feel cheated...”
No comment has been received from Procter & Gamble, despite the letters of grievances sent there by Derzhstandart over a number of months, except for one brief message that reads in part: “...detergents meant for your market are produced in accordance with the Ukrainian washing tradition...” In other words, why blame the company if your tradition is bad?
Nota Bene: The Chamber of Foreign Investment Independent Experts under the President of Ukraine formed a jury of experts to handle a dispute between Procter & Gamble as the founder of a foreign investment company and the State Committee for Standardization, Certification, and Metrology of Ukraine, reports Infobank.
At the beginning of March 1998, Derzhstandart banned the sale of a number of P&G products in Ukraine, among them Lemon Tide, Ariel Automatic, and Head and Shoulders shampoo, ordering their recertification on the grounds of dubious quality. P&G considers Derzhstandart’s claim unfounded, damaging to its trademark, and inflicting heavy material damage on the firm.
