PepsiCo India Holdings Private Limited - Kurkure

Recommendation: Upheld | Medium: Industry Member

The FTC panel observed that the product packaging of `Kurkure Masala Munch’ claims, "UP Ka No.1 Taste" which is supported by a disclaimer on the back of pack, which refers to an independent research conducted by NielsenIQ from June 6 to June 9, 2024. To access more details, the consumers are directed to visit a Webpage (https://www.pepsnacks.com/kurkure) where they must scroll down to find the product image and click on "Click here for T&C". This leads the viewer to a further information which expands the label disclaimer as: “PepsiCo claim based on independent research conducted by NielsenIQ between 6th June to 9th June 2024 for a sample of 410 Collet Snacks consumers, Males and Females (50-50) aged between 18- 35years, Socio-Economic Classification ABC, in the representation Indian national territories of Lucknow & Kanpur”. The FTC panel further observed that the advertiser has provided a Certificate from an independent research agency - NielsenIQ, Summary of the findings of the study conducted by Nielsen, and a Summary of a report from IPSOS. The FTC panel discussed that the advertiser’s claim that `Kurkure Masala Munch’ is “UP Ka No. 1 Taste” suggests that, `Kurkure Masala Munch’ is considered to be the top tasting snack in Uttar Pradesh (UP) region of India. This claim is based on the findings of a survey conducted by NielsenIQ, which found that, within the sample group of 410 snack consumers, `Kurkure Masala Munch’ was rated as the best tasting snack during the survey period (June 6th to June 9th, 2024). The FTC panel noted that according to the advertiser, the "Kurkure Zayeekedaar" product is essentially the same product - "Kurkure Masala Munch". The term "Zayeekedaar" is just a marketing description used to refer to the Kurkure product sold in Uttar Pradesh. There is no specific Kurkure variant called "Zayeekedaar", rather it is a flavour descriptor featured on the product packaging which says, "Zayekedaar flavour." The FTC panel discussed that the disclaimer mentions that the NielsenIQ research was conducted on a sample size of 410 consumers from two specific cities - Lucknow and Kanpur, which are part of Uttar Pradesh. The top two collet snacks in Uttar Pradesh's market were selected for testing based on sampling methodology. The advertiser’s product - 'Kurkure Zayeekedaar' was compared against two competing brands as they together make up 94% of the total sales value of collet category. The findings of the research showed that 60% of participants preferred the taste of `Kurkure Zayeekedaar’ as better tasting collet snack over other competing snack brands. The FTC panel noted that according to the advertiser, the claim, "UP Ka No. 1 Taste" is a taste-based claim and is not based on sales data of the product. The claim refers to the preference of the taste of the product as judged by consumers based on their individual sense of taste. The FTC panel further noted that the smaller urban towns and villages of UP are not represented in the study from where close to 90% of the sales of this product is sold of all brand put together. The FTC panel discussed that while Lucknow and Kanpur may be the two largest markets in Uttar Pradesh for collet snacks, the findings from a study conducted in these two large cities cannot represent the entire state of Uttar Pradesh. The FTC panel observed that the study used a "paired comparison test" to compare the snack brands. The sample was divided into two panels – first panel with 202 participants and the second panel with 208 participants, where the advertiser’s product was tested with the leading brands. However, the sample size of 202 and 208 is too small to make a claim that the findings are significant with a "sampling error of 5% at 95% confidence interval". The FTC panel noted the advertiser’s response that `the taste profile of Uttar Pradesh does not change by town class’. The advertiser has submitted findings from a pan-India study on taste clusters in support of this submission. However, the sample size from which the final conclusions about 'taste clusters' were arrived at, is too small and hence it cannot be relied upon. Based on this assessment, the FTC panel concluded that the Website claim, and the product packaging claim, "UP Ka No. 1 Taste", was inadequately substantiated. The claim is misleading by exaggeration and is likely to lead to widespread disappointment in the minds of consumers. The said claim contravened Chapter I, Clauses 1.1, 1.4 and 1.5 of the ASCI Code. This complaint was UPHELD.