PRINCETON — Church & Dwight Co., the maker of Arm & Hammer detergents, sued Clorox Co. over advertisements that show cats refusing to use a litter box containing its "Super Scoop" product.

The complaint, filed today in federal court in New York, alleges that Clorox began airing a new television commercial this month showing “clever” cats choosing boxes filled with its “Fresh Step” litter instead of Super Scoop. The company seeks a court order blocking Oakland, California-based Clorox from showing the ads.

Church & Dwight says a voiceover in the Clorox ad explains that cats “are also smart enough to choose the litter with less odors. That’s because Fresh Step Scoopable litter with carbon is better at eliminating litter box odors than Arm & Hammer Super Scoop. Fresh Step: Cats know what they like.”

“Cats do not talk and it is widely understood in the scientific community that cat perception of malodor is materially different than human perception,” Princeton, New Jersey-based Church & Dwight said in the complaint.

Church & Dwight argues the ad campaign sends a “false message” about its product. The company says it commissioned an independent study that assessed the performance of Super Scoop and Fresh Step and that “cat elimination behavior was evaluated.”

The company said that a study it conducted involving 158 cats showed that only six, or less than 4 percent, rejected litter boxes filled with its Super Scoop product “and relieved themselves elsewhere in the home.”

'INTER-CAT BEHAVIOR'

Church & Dwight said that Clorox conducted a “flawed” rival study, using eight cats and two litter boxes at the same time. In the Clorox study, the total “waste” was weighed, Church & Dwight said.

The study failed to take into account “variable-inter-cat behavior,” which could include a cat’s fear of using the same box as another cat because of intimidation, Church & Dwight said.

Clorox’s explicit statements in its ads that its litter is preferred because it’s “better at eliminating odors” is “literally false,” Church & Dwight alleges in the suit.

Kathryn Caulfield, a spokeswoman for Clorox, declined to comment on the suit, saying the company had a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.

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