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(vii) Though the impugned commercial does not specifically refer to Tata Salt, Dr. Singhvi submits that, as a player commanding 34% of the white salt market share, the impugned commercial is most injurious to Tata. Tata, therefore, possesses the necessary locus to assail the impugned commercial, as an impermissible example of class disparagement. Puffery, submits Dr. Singhvi, is permissible in advertisement, and puffery also includes, in its sweep, exaggerated claims regarding one's product. What is impermissible is denigration of another's product, especially where such denigration is premised on untrue and misleading statements.

cannot be said to be disparaging, in any manner, of white salt. It merely declares that Puro was being used because Puro was healthy. The subsequent declarations, in the commercial, only seek to justify the initial response, by pointing out why Puro is healthy. At the highest, these declarations would amount only to puffery, which is permissible in comparative advertising. This is clear from the fact that, before the various declarations that follow, the other actress queries "Healthy? Kaise?" All statements thereafter, therefore, pertained only to Puro, and not to Tata or its white salt.

(v) The "look and feel" of the allegedly disparaging commercial could not be discerned by viewing it frame by frame. What matters is the overall impression that it seeks to convey. The overall impression that Puro's impugned commercial salt is to be avoided, as it is bleached, contains artificial harmful chemicals and iodine. This, therefore, is not a case of mere puffery but of conscious generic disparagement of white salt.

(v) Puffery is the only exception, as puffery, by its very nature, involves exaggeration and embellishment, and an element of untruth is bound to exist in it. Untruth in puffery is permissible only because puffery is inherently not taken seriously by the average consumer. Puffery is not, therefore, to be tested on the anvil of truth. Some elements of hyperbole and untruth is inherent in puffery.