HUL, Honasa settle ad dispute amid rising heat in India’s sunscreen wars

A courtroom battle between two of India’s biggest personal care players has concluded in a quiet truce, at least for now.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Honasa Consumer Ltd, the maker of Derma Co. and Mamaearth, reached a settlement on Thursday. HUL agreed to tweak a disputed Lakmé sunscreen advertisement that Honasa said unfairly targeted rivals; Honasa, in turn, agreed to take down any social media posts referencing the Lakmé campaign.

During a hearing at the Delhi high court on Thursday, HUL said it would remove all social media posts related to the sunscreen ad within 24 hours and replace them with a modified version once ready. Changes to its hoardings must be made within 48 hours. The revisions must include removing the term “online bestseller” and changing the packaging colors shown in the campaign.

The two companies had filed lawsuits against each other earlier this week, sparking a legal faceoff over the sunscreen ad campaign.

The spat reflects the rising competitive heat in India’s ₹2,000 crore sun care market, where scientific claims and marketing tactics are coming under increasing scrutiny.

Mamaearth vs HUL

At the heart of the dispute was a Lakmé commercial that claimed an “online bestseller” sunscreen advertising SPF 50 actually delivered only SPF 20. The campaign featured yellow-toned bottles—visually similar to rival products—next to Lakmé’s own golden packaging, and included billboard and social media promotions. HUL said the ad was backed by in-vivo testing, a globally accepted method for evaluating sunscreen efficacy.

Read this | What the Minimalist acquisition means for HUL

Although no competitor was named, Honasa took issue with the visual cues, arguing the campaign disparaged its Derma Co. brand, which comes in orange-and-white packaging. Lakmé’s products, by contrast, use a golden-yellow colour scheme.

On Tuesday, Honasa co-founder Ghazal Alagh responded with a pointed LinkedIn post “welcoming” Lakmé to the “in-vivo tested SPF 50 club”—a standard Derma Co. claims to already meet.

Following the court’s order on Thursday, Honasa agreed to take down any social media posts related to Lakmé.

To be sure, the matter will be heard again on Monday at the Delhi high court and on Tuesday at the Bombay high court.

Subsequently, in a statement, HUL reiterated its intent to raise awareness around SPF and claimed its campaign was part of a broader effort to set new benchmarks for sun protection in India.

“This campaign is part of Lakme’s broader commitment to set a new benchmark for sun protection standards in India. Unfortunately, there are some sellers, who have been falsely claiming SPF 50,” the statement added. “In the interest of consumers, upon independent testing by accredited labs, they fall far short of stated claims; misleading consumers on sunscreen, which has skin implications like pigmentation, skin ageing and spots.”

HUL said it has been working with industry bodies to push for mandatory SPF testing. Its campaigns will go live again once the required modifications are made.

Also read | Is the rise of D2C brands really challenging the incumbents?

India’s sun care segment has seen a burst of product launches in recent years. According to Mintel’s Global New Product Database, sunscreen launches in India have grown by more than 20 percentage points between 2019 and 2024. But despite this surge, consumer understanding of SPF remains low—offering both a marketing opportunity and a risk of misinformation.