Colgate-Palmolive Sues Procter & Gamble Over Advertising

Colgate-Palmolive Co. has filed suit in U.S. District Court in New York against Procter & Gamble Co., saying its competitor is making false claims in advertising for its tooth-whitening products.

Colgate-Palmolive has asked the court to order P&G to stop running certain ads for its Crest Night Effects and Crest Whitestrips products, issue corrective advertising and pay damages equivalent to those sustained by Colgate-Palmolive as a result of those ads. The suit doesn’t specify damage amounts.

In its lawsuit, Colgate-Palmolive charges that P&G is making false and misleading statements about the superiority of its products to Colgate’s Simply White Night and Simply White products. “Most recently P&G has begun airing two television commercials that are highly disparaging of Colgate’s products, portraying them as ineffective and essentially worthless,” the suit said.