You may have seen wars between designers, models, actors and even brands, but now the beauty industry may be witnessing its first sunscreen spat. On April 14, Ghazal Alagh, the co-founder of beauty brands like Mamaearth, The Derma Co. and Aqualogica, shared a picture of billboards featuring The Derma Co. and Lakmé's SPF 50 sunscreen. What began as a product campaign quickly turned into a battle, with fashion pages like Diet Sabya calling it ‘Sunscreen Kalesh’.
What did Ghazal Alagh post?
The Derma Co.'s billboard in Ghazal's post said, ‘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.
Sharing the picture, Ghazal stated that good competition is always great for any market as it keeps brands from becoming sleepy and brings more innovation for consumers. Accusing legacy brands of copying their products, she added, “Indian FMCG has lacked strong competition for too long, leading to traditional giants becoming complacent. We take pride in challenging these norms and waking up the industry time and again…It’s interesting (and flattering) to see traditional brands following suit, even copying products from name to packaging.”
{{/usCountry}}Sharing the picture, Ghazal stated that good competition is always great for any market as it keeps brands from becoming sleepy and brings more innovation for consumers. Accusing legacy brands of copying their products, she added, “Indian FMCG has lacked strong competition for too long, leading to traditional giants becoming complacent. We take pride in challenging these norms and waking up the industry time and again…It’s interesting (and flattering) to see traditional brands following suit, even copying products from name to packaging.”
{{/usCountry}}Read her full post here:
How did Lakmé respond?
Soon, Lakme issued a statement in ‘public interest’ claiming that some brands who are currently on online bestseller lists are ‘claiming to be in-vivo tested’ but their in-market sunscreen product samples deliver SPF 20 against a claim of SPF 50.
They added that Lakmé has been in-vivo testing (ISO-validated testing method) their sunscreens for the last 10 years - since 2015 - ‘and holding high standards of testing and delivering SPF 50 across our products’.
“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.