When making comparative claims to an unnamed generic competitor,
even with humor, NAD will require you to substantiate your
superiority as to all major competitors. Some advertisers
feel naming a specific competitor is riskier and they will more
likely be challenged if they call out a particular brand but the
substantiation burden may be higher if they do not.
Case in point is a recent challenge by Allstate to Progressive
ads where the adorable quirky spokesperson, Flo, is discussing the
numerous discounts Progressive offers that "A. Nother
Insurance Co." does not. Allstate argued that a
reasonable takeaway from the ads is that Progressive is the only
significant competitor that offers the same benefits.
Allstate asserted it had all of the same discounts, such as safe
driver and loyalty price breaks. Progressive said the ads
were not comparative to a real competing insurance company but
instead the A. Nother Insurance Company was just a generic straw
man. Even
