Beauty Brand Clashes: Ghazal Alagh Takes A Swipe At Lakme's SPF Claims (image-Linkedin/ Ghazal Alagh)
gIn this competitive market, wars between designers and brands are a very common thing. And recently, the Indian beauty industry has witnessed a clash between two famous brands. On April 14, Ghazal Alagh, the co-founder of the beauty brand Mamaearth, The Derma Co, and Aqualogica, had shared a post with the image of two billboards featuring sunscreens of The Derma Co and Lakmé.
On Derma’s billboard, it read, “Hey Lakme, Congratulations on finally getting SPF 50 in-vivo tested. Welcome to the Derma Co. standard.” It was in response to Lakmé’s billboard – also featured in the photo – which targeted other beauty brands for claiming to be SPF 50 and giving SPF 20 protection.
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Sharing the picture, Ghazal stated that good competition is always great for any market as it keeps the brands from becoming sleepy and brings more innovation for consumers. However, accusing the brands of copying their products, she added in the post that India’s FMCG has always lacked competition for too long, leading traditional giants becoming complacent. “We take pride in challenging these norms and waking up the industry time and again… It’s interesting to see traditional brands following suit, even copying from name to packaging,” she wrote.
She in her post also congratulated Lakme on adopting in-vivo testing, which she said was a standard already followed by The Derma Co.
In response, Lakmé issued a statement claiming that some brands who are currently the bestsellers online lists are claiming to be in-vivo tested but most are not. They added that Lakme has been in-vivo testing (ISO-validating testing method) their sunscreens for the past 10 years – since 2015 – and also holding high standards of testing and delivering SPF 50 across their products.
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“For Lakmé, this is not about competition or social media marketing. As a brand that has stood for scientific excellence and quality for over 70 years, it is a matter of business ethics, where consumer interest and safety should take precedence. Lakmé will continue to champion the highest standards of SPF testing to educate consumers on picking the right sunscreen that delivers on what it promises,” they added.
