Advertising with Stiftung Warentest rating 'good' enough?

The Frankfurt judges of the Hessian Higher Regional Court (OLG) had to decide whether a manufacturer of a razor could advertise in a television spot that the advertised product had been rated 'good' by Stiftung Warentest without placing this rating in relation to the overall test.

A manufacturer advertised a razor in a television commercial by showing the Stiftung Warentest logo in a full-screen manner towards the end of the spot and stating: 'Good 2.2 Issue 12/2010'. In addition, this on-screen text contained the further information 'Test: 42 wet razors'. What was not stated in the advertisement was that the advertised razor ranked only sixth among the 15 tested wet razors with replaceable blades, with two wet razors of a competitor rated 'very good 1.4' and 'very good 1.5' and three further ones of this competitor receiving the grade 'Good' with average grades of 1.7 and 1.9 respectively. This competitor, whose razors were rated better, considered this advertising to be unfair, issued a paid cease-and-desist notice to the manufacturer and demanded injunctive relief.

Court decision
In its order of 13.01.2011 – Az. 6 W 177/10 the Higher Regional Court Frankfurt a. M. (OLG) decided that when advertising with the test result 'good' from Stiftung Warentest in the context of a television spot, the rank of the quality assessment within the overall test must generally be made clear, provided that several competing products had been rated 'very good'. This applied even if the test result of the advertised product was just above average in relation to all tested competing products.

Conclusion

Sometimes 'good' is simply not good enough. It is therefore always advisable to seek qualified legal advice before carrying out advertising measures.