Mumbai: Sustainable home-care brand BECO has launched #WarOnWhatsHidden, a campaign aimed at bringing greater attention to ingredient transparency in household cleaning products. The campaign encourages consumers to look beyond front-of-pack claims and understand the ingredients used in products such as dishwashing liquids and detergents.
The campaign features two films highlighting chemicals identified through independent laboratory testing in specific variants of competing products. The first film focuses on Benzisothiazolinone (BIT) and Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate (LAS), which BECO said were detected in Surf Excel Matic Liquid (Top Load). According to the campaign, testing conducted by an independent NABL-accredited third-party laboratory on samples purchased from open retail recorded 277 mg/kg of BIT and LAS above 10%.
The second film focuses on LAS in Vim Dishwash Gel (Lemon), with independent testing cited by BECO recording LAS above 8%. The campaign references published scientific and regulatory material that associates BIT with skin irritation and allergic skin reactions in susceptible individuals, while LAS has been documented as capable of causing skin and eye irritation.
BECO said the concentrations highlighted in the campaign are based on tests conducted on the exact products and variants named, while the information on potential effects is drawn from published institutional and peer-reviewed sources, including OECD, NICNAS and IPCS material. The company added that its own laundry and dishwash liquids are formulated without BIT and LAS.
Through #WarOnWhatsHidden, BECO aims to encourage consumers to apply the same level of scrutiny to household cleaning products that they increasingly apply to food and personal-care products. The campaign seeks to shift the conversation from simply evaluating cleaning claims to understanding what goes into the products used at home.
Aditya Ruia, Co-founder, BECO, said, “For decades, we have been taught to associate ‘clean’ with fragrance, foam and powerful advertising claims, without ever being encouraged to question what lies beneath the surface. We have become far more conscious of what we eat and put on our skin, yet the products we use to clean our homes rarely receive the same level of attention. At BECO, we make our home-care range without BIT and LAS, and we believe consumers are entitled to know what is in the products they clean their homes with, and to make their own choices about it. With our #WarOnWhatsHidden campaign, we want to change that by replacing fear with transparency, awareness and information, empowering consumers to make more informed choices about the products they bring into their homes. We hope this campaign is an eye-opener for consumers around the country, and that it encourages them to ask the right questions and to seek clarity about what they bring into their homes.”
With the campaign, BECO is positioning ingredient transparency as a key part of the home-cleaning conversation and encouraging consumers to make more informed choices about the products they use in their households
