Teacher flushes Tiger out on big claims

01 December 2016 - 18:53 By TMG Digital

Teaching right from wrong comes with the job for schoolteacher Ellen Fedele - and she's taken that beyond the classroom by getting a company to pull an advertising claim.Tiger Brands‚ which produces and packages well-known consumer brands including Koo‚ Jungle Oats and All Gold‚ has been ordered to remove its claim that a Jeyes toilet cleaning block will deliver hundreds of perfumed flushes.Ellen Fedele from Cape Town lodged a consumer complaint saying the block only lasts a few dozen flushes‚ far less than what is claimed.The cat lover told TMG Digital she does not use air fresheners because of her pets‚ and so the toilet blocks are her "go to" choice of bringing freshness into her bathroom.But they did not deliver on the claim on the pack‚ which she felt was a case of false or misleading advertising.Commenting on the Advertising Standards Authority ruling‚ she said: "I'm grateful it will be removed"."We as South Africans need to 'challenge' companies about their claims more (often)‚ if we feel they are misleading." Tiger Brands acknowledged to the ASA that there were several consumer complaints about the longevity of the blocks – after which a laboratory study was conducted‚ “which determined that the claim as indicated on the pack was not misleading‚ provided that the block was inserted correctly”.However‚ the placement of the toilet blocks in the cisterns‚ as well as the water pressure filling the cistern‚ impacted significantly on the longevity of the blocks‚ and could reduce the number of flushes dramatically‚ the company conceded.Based on this‚ Tiger Brands said it would remove the claim from the pack and added that the current packaging should be completely depleted from the market by end of March 2017.The ASA Directorate accepted the company’s undertaking but ordered it to do a month earlier – by February 2017.Last year‚ Fedele was involved in a toilet beautification project with Grade 8 pupils at Wynberg High School...

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