Marketing and all things related

Marketing Blurb owns a Dyson vacuum cleaner which does a fine job with pet hair from our dogs and cats. (Note the plurals, but we are not providing an exact count.) You might know that Dyson is the only vacuum cleaner that does not lose suction. We are not going to get into the technical details here--but trust us--the vacuum does not lose suction. Hoover vacuum decided this was a nifty claim to imitate for their brand advertising, even though their vacuum is engineered differently, and in fact, does lose suction as the canister fills. Dyson challenged Hoover’s claim, and the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus referred the case to the Federal Trade Commission. Hoover attempted to dodge a bullet by adding this caveat to their advertising: “Vacuum Cleaner Suction Tests Do Not Represent Carpet Cleaning Ability.” As we understand it, this does not adequate address the challenge, and the legal issue is still unresolved. Hoover’s parent company, Whirlpool, is seeking a buyer for the Hoover brand. We learned about this battle of the vacuums from Brandweek.