Did paint manufacturers shoot themselves in the foot going to the CCP?

We must begin this story by commending the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP). It seems that the regulatory law enforcement authority has finally woken from its slumber after more than a year and a half in which it did not issue a single order.

The CCP normally ends up issuing at least a handful of orders every year. In the years preceding the interlude, the body issued between 8-11 orders annually. So it was strange when the CCP went missing in action from January 2023 to the 31st of July 2024. 

The month of August, however, has marked a bit of a resurgence. In the span of the month of August, the CCP issued three different orders finally breaking its dry spell. However, the CCP might be a little over eager getting back on the horse. 

One of the three recently passed orders has to do with the paint industry. The complaint was originally filed by Nippon Paints against Diamond Paints. In their complaint, Nippon claimed that Diamond was using deceptive marketing tactics. What misrepresentation was Nippon claiming? According to them, Diamond Paints was being deceptive by not disclosing that their paint contains ‘tokens’. Now, if you’ve lived through the early 2000s and the campaign by Master Paints that followed, you’ll know tokens are a pretty contentious issue in the paint industry. But why would Nippon claim Diamond is engaging in deceptive marketing techniques by not disclosing in their television ads that their paint has tokens? 

Because the CCP is of that opinion. In fact, the CCP had demanded these declarations in an earlier order some years ago. It just so happened that the entire paint industry decided to not really implement it and nobody seems to have followed up. Until Nippon decided to one-up Diamond in this way. Now, the dynamics in the entire paint industry’s marketing departments are changing, and tokens seem to be on everybody’s mind. So let’s start there.