Monkey triumphs in battle of teabags

Monkey triumphs in battle of teabagsPG Tips’ Johnny Vegas and his monkey have beaten off a challenge from the Tetley tea folk in the “battle of the teabags”, refereed by the ad watchdog.
The bust-up first started brewing when Unilever launched an ad featuring Vegas and the puppet, in which the monkey made two cups of tea; one with a pyramid bag, one with a round bag.
It stated: “PG Tips uses pyramid bags, so if we test one against a regular tea bag … you’ll see the tea has got more room to move, freeing the great fresh taste for a perfect cuppa.”
But the ad left a bitter taste in the mouth of bosses at Tetley owner Tata Global Beverages, who rifled off a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority.
They claimed the ad exaggerated the performance of PG Tips, implied that the pyramid shape would produce a better tasting cuppa, and denigrated Tetley’s round bag.
In response, Unilever provided the results of two tests, which demonstrated the pyramid tea bag had significantly greater brewing efficiency than the round teabag.
And according to their mathematical modelling, the pyramid teabag had 99% more room to move, justifying the claim “freeing the great taste”.
It was also at pains to stress that they did not believe the ad was making a direct comparison with Tetley. They pointed out that no other tea brand was mentioned or shown, and the claim did not expressly refer to the superiority of taste.
Having studied the evidence, the ASA sided with Unilever, ruling Vegas and the monkey were free to continue the ad campaign without alteration.

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1 Comment on "Monkey triumphs in battle of teabags"

  1. PG Tips’ monkey triumphs in battle of teabags http://t.co/QUB65RuebM #advertising

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