A recent wear protection challenge issued up by Quaker State did not garner action from competitors, according to the company.
Quaker State announced the challenge last week, stating it is so confident that its competitors’ ILSAC GF-4 full synthetic motor oils currently available in the U.S. do not provide better wear protection in the Sequence IVA test that it wanted the public to know the results of the challenge.
"We were not necessarily expecting more of a response from our competitors, but we are disappointed that they opted not to participate in the challenge," says Troy Chapman, marketing management team leader for Pennzoil and Quaker State brands. "We always intended to go through with the testing on this challenge and hoped at least some competitor would accept so we could put these claims to test via industry standard testing."
“We are disappointed that our competitors opted not to participate in the challenge designed to provide consumers with clarity regarding wear claims as measured by industry testing," says Steve Harman, president, Americas. “To mark the end of the ‘Wear War,’ we are re-introducing our product as Quaker State Ultimate Durability full synthetic motor oil – NEW name; same unsurpassed wear protection.
Quaker State offered the challenge March 20, as a letter was sent from Steve Harman to executives from competing companies. The letter also was published in a full-page advertisement in USA Today to help make the motoring public aware of the challenge.
The motor oil challenge was an effort to clarify the ongoing advertising campaigns boasting superior comparative wear protection claims based on the Sequence IVA test. Quaker State asked the competition making these claims to participate in a head-to-head challenge that would provide consumers with the hard facts and context behind the wear protection numbers. By publishing the results from head-to-head testing, Quaker State sought to put an end to the “Wear War” and thereby declare a winner: the consumer.
The challenge called for a respected, third-party applied research and development organization to conduct a one-time, independent ASTM Sequence IVA test for each motor oil identified by the noted brands. Competitors had been given until March 27 at 5 p.m. EST to respond to the proposal. Had a competitor chosen to participate, the wear results of the test would have been released to the public.
For more information, visit www.QuakerState.com.
