When Godrej Sara Lee decided to enter mosquito repellant cream market, they decided on a big bang campaign, roping actress Vidya Balan for its brand Good Knight.

But that hasn’t gone down well with rival Dabur.

Sources said that Dabur has gone to court because it claims that Godrej's new ad is portraying its brand Odomos in a bad light.

Alan Collaco, secretary general of ASCI, said, “We will ask the mosquito repellant brand to substantiate with enough proof if others products are allergic, etc. If they prove it, it’s fine. But if they don't, we will uphold it.”

While the issue has gone to the Advertisers Standards Council of India (ASCI), the court hearing is also expected this week, say sources.

But what actually triggered the campaign was declining market share of Good Knight. Although it’s the leader in the overall mosquito repellant market, rivals like Reckitt Benkiser and Jyothy Labs have been stealing away its share.

Hence, the entry into new sub-segment of repellant creams where Odomos, with 96 per cent share, is by far the market leader.

But this is not a one off incident.

This year, ASCI has received over 67 per cent more complaints as compared to 2008.

Also, there have been quite a few campaigns like Complan-Horlicks, Vaseline-Boroplus and now this one, that are getting dragged into litigation too.

Now, with most FMCG companies upping their ad spends by over 50 per cent, some of the upcoming ads could surely heat up TV screens and of course competition during this winter.