Fairness Commission: Misleading tests
The Swiss Fair Trading Commission (SLK) has upheld a complaint against a company that had its products tested by an association and later advertised them as test winners. The requirements of the testing guidelines were not met.
The Second Chamber of the Swiss Commission for Fair Trading (SLK) recently upheld a complaint against a company that advertised its products as test winners. It is legitimate for companies to have their products tested and then communicate the results in their advertising. However, the requirements of the SLK's test guidelines must be met. Specifically, the case involved a company from the electric heating sector comparing its products with those of two others and advertising them as "Test winner - tested by the Swiss Electrotechnical Association (SEV)".
According to the SLK, this is unfair in two respects: This advertising gave the misleading impression that the product had been rated as the test winner in a general comparison of competitors not initiated by the respondent. However, this was not the case, as SEV had tested and certified certain heating elements but had not carried out any official tests in the sense of product tests. In addition, when test results are published, the source and publication date must be stated precisely. This means that only tests that have been published and are publicly accessible may be used for commercial communication. And it must be communicated exactly which specific properties or criteria were tested. Neither was the case in this advertisement. The SLK has therefore asked the company to refrain from advertising "test winner" in future.
According to the SLK, this is unfair in two respects: This advertising gave the misleading impression that the product had been rated as the test winner in a general comparison of competitors not initiated by the respondent. However, this was not the case, as SEV had tested and certified certain heating elements but had not carried out any official tests in the sense of product tests. In addition, when test results are published, the source and publication date must be stated precisely. This means that only tests that have been published and are publicly accessible may be used for commercial communication. And it must be communicated exactly which specific properties or criteria were tested. Neither was the case in this advertisement. The SLK has therefore asked the company to refrain from advertising "test winner" in future.
