Delhi High Court allows Gillette to ask influencers to take down posts on Bombay Shaving Company ad

The Delhi High Court had instructed Bombay Shaving Company to take down its ad targeting Gillette and provide a revised version

The Delhi High Court has allowed Gillette India to ask influencers to take down posts in which they shared an advertisement by Bombay Shaving Co. (BSC) targeting a rival.

On Wednesday, the court had asked Bombay Shaving Co. to take down the advertisement and submit a revised version without showing the court setting and referring to the competitor.

During the hearing, Gillette’s counsel pointed to “follow-up social media posts of other influencers who have discussed this ad” and sought directions for their removal.

The judge, however, did not immediately grant a blanket direction to social media intermediaries. Instead, the court asked Gillette to first approach the concerned intermediaries. ”You write to them to take it down, and if they don’t, then you come back,” Justice Jyoti Singh told Gillette.

BSC’s counsel told the court that the revised version complied with the directions given earlier and that references to the court and other material that had to be removed had been deleted.

“Whatever undertaking I gave yesterday, the ad completely abides by that. … Reference to court has been removed,” BSC’s counsel said.

The counsel also told the court that the revised advertisement had been shown to Gillette, although Gillette had not accepted it.

The Delhi High Court had on Wednesday ordered Bombay Shaving to take down its advertisement after Gillette India challenged the campaign.

At the hearing, lawyers for Gillette India said the company has a 97% market share, arguing that any advertisement targeting a rival would effectively target Gillette.

Gillette was represented by senior counsel C.M. Lal, along with Ankur Sangal, Pragya Mishra, Saumya Bajpayee and Yashodhra Raina of Aerion Legal. Bombay Shaving Co. was represented by Prathvi Singh of Fidus Law Chambers.

The dispute is around BSC’s “Switch4” campaign, launched earlier in September. The ads set in court claimed that a four-blade BSC cartridge was a replacement for popular three-blade handles. Gillette was not named in the advertisement; however, the rival is an “American company” in the advertisement.

Bombay Shaving Co. said that it has adhered to the undertaking given by the court. "At the heart of Switch4 is a simple belief: consumers deserve the freedom to choose. We will continue to innovate, challenge the status quo and stand up for consumer choice, without compromise," said Bombay Shaving Co. spokesperson to Mint.

Gillette India said the campaign targets its products and portrays them as outdated or inferior. The advertisement portrayed the rival brand as “Uncle Razor”.

"We have the utmost regards for our courts and its judicial process. We believe advertising should be responsible, fair and respectful of consumers, as well as of the brands and products they rely on," a Gillette spokesperson said.

A previous dispute between the companies from 2024 went to mediation and was settled in February 2026.

Bombay Shaving Co. is an Indian direct-to-consumer grooming and personal-care brand that began with premium men’s shaving systems and has since expanded into a multi-category, omnichannel personal-care business. The company reported revenue of ₹640 crore in FY26, up 136% from a year earlier, while its losses fell 85% to ₹9 crore, according to market intelligence platform Tracxn.

Its investors include Colgate-Palmolive (India), Sixth Sense Ventures, Fireside Ventures and Alteria Capital, among others.

Neethi Lisa Rojan is a senior correspondent focusing on the consumer goods and retail sector working from Mumbai for Mint since 2026. She has been a journalist for a little over two years with Moneycontrol and The Morning Context. She has covered the consumer and healthcare sectors in earlier roles. She was a double gold medallist during her bachelor’s from Mahatma Gandhi University Kerala and post-graduation from Pondicherry University. With a background in commerce and journalism, she brings a sharp analytical lens to stories on India’s fast-evolving consumer goods and retail sector. With an academic background in business administration and a keen eye for financial statement analysis, she bridges the gap between corporate data and compelling narrative journalism. Her reporting is characterized by a focus on how evolving consumer behaviours and regulatory changes impact India's largest mass-market brands. She is a keen learner with diplomas in international business, human rights and journalism. She specialized in business journalism at the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. When she is not looking into shopping carts, you can find her explaining the latest conspiracy theory.

Yash Tiwari is a Mumbai-based journalist who reports on corporate and regulatory developments, with a focus on court-driven policy shifts and the intersection of law and public policy. He has been in the profession for two years. Before joining Mint, he worked at NDTV Profit as an assistant producer on the TV desk while also reporting, gaining experience across television and print journalism and combining reporting with production expertise. Born in Kolkata, a city he remains deeply connected to, Yash has a keen interest in the technicalities of Indian law and aims to decode complex legal developments in a clear and accessible manner for readers. He is a graduate of the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, where he completed his postgraduate diploma in journalism. He closely follows politics and government policies, and has covered several state elections as a freelance journalist. His work is driven by the idea of making law less intimidating and more understandable for the general public. When not at work, Yash can be found playing cricket, revisiting classic matches, or engaging in conversations about the evolving landscape of law and policy in India.