Where is Dr. Doolittle when you need him?

Advertising claims are a tricky business. Figuring out just the right claim to demonstrate your products superiority and proving it are not always easy. Many a lawsuit has been waged when one company believes another has cooked the books to create some bogus claim. And now into the breach comes kitty litter.

It seems that the folks at Church & Dwight have taken offense to Clorox's claim that cats prefer Fresh Step cat litter to Arm & Hammer brand. The key component of their argument? Cats can't talk so there's know way to know which they prefer. Fair enough.

As one who's spent hundreds of hours in focus groups trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to figure out what humans prefer, I can't imagine trying to see what cats prefer. I'm sure there's some behavioral study somewhere that Fresh Step will trot out, but in the end, does it really matter. Do cat owners really care what their cats prefer when it comes to cat litter? Or do they really want it to take care of the odors and make it easy to scoop?

I'd bet the latter and this little cat fight is just a waste of time and money.