Clorox Files False-Advertising Lawsuit Against the Maker of Lysol

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Mar 20, 2019, 18:14 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., March 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) today announced it has filed a lawsuit against Reckitt Benckiser (RB) in response to a wide-ranging false and deceptive advertising campaign for RB's Lysol brand. According to the lawsuit, RB's campaign is designed to mislead consumers to purchase RB's products instead of Clorox products based on misinformation.

"Consumers deserve truthful information," said Eric Reynolds, executive vice president – Cleaning and Burt's Bees, "and advertising that can help them make the product choices that are best for their households. We're not opposed to competitive advertising, but we are opposed to advertising designed to mislead. Not only do RB's ads falsely claim that Lysol products are superior, they disparage the well-established effectiveness and value of Clorox products."

According to the lawsuit, RB's television, internet and social media advertising features numerous deceptive comparisons to Clorox products, and represents Lysol products as having performance advantages they do not have. The ads confuse consumers and seek to erode Clorox's hard-earned reputation as a manufacturer of effective, user-friendly products.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Northern District of California, seeks a court order halting the deceptive ads and requiring RB to surrender the profits it has earned as a result of them. The lawsuit also requests corrective advertising, unspecified damages and attorneys' fees.

"The egregious and misleading nature of their campaign compelled us to file this lawsuit," Reynolds went on to say. "We owe it to our consumers, employees, customers and shareholders to hold RB accountable for attempting to gain unfair competitive advantage through these deceptive practices."

To view a copy of the lawsuit, click here. For more information on Clorox^® branded products, click here.

The Clorox Company

The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) is a leading multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products with approximately 8,700 employees worldwide and fiscal year 2018 sales of $6.1 billion. Clorox markets some of the most trusted and recognized consumer brand names, including its namesake bleach and cleaning products; Pine-Sol^® cleaners; Liquid Plumr^® clog removers; Poett^® home care products; Fresh Step^® cat litter; Glad^® bags, wraps and containers; Kingsford^® charcoal; Hidden Valley^® dressings and sauces; Brita^® water-filtration products; Burt's Bees^® natural personal care products; RenewLife^® digestive health products; and Rainbow Light^®, Natural Vitality^® and Neocell^® dietary supplements. The company also markets brands for its industry-leading healthcare and commercial cleaning products under the CloroxPro™ and Clorox Healthcare^®names. More than 80 percent of the company's sales are generated from brands that hold the No. 1 or No. 2 market share positions in their categories.

Clorox is a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, a community of global leaders committed to sustainability. The company has been broadly recognized for its corporate responsibility efforts, included on CR Magazine's 2018 100 Best Corporate Citizens list, Barron's 2019 100 Most Sustainable Companies list, the Human Rights Campaign's 2018 Corporate Equality Index and the 2019 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, among others. In support of its communities, The Clorox Company and its foundations contributed about $20 million in combined cash grants, product donations and cause marketing in fiscal year 2018. For more information, visit TheCloroxCompany.com, including the Good Growth blog, and follow the company on Twitter at @CloroxCo.

CLX-C

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SOURCE The Clorox Company