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ASA Adjudication on Judi Thurloe Sports Horses

Judi Thurloe Sports Horses

Pond Head Farm
Oulston
York
YO61 3RD

Date:

31 October 2012

Media:

Internet (on own site), Magazine

Sector:

Agricultural

Number of complaints:

1

Complaint Ref:

A12-200270

Ad

A national press ad and a page on the website, www.judithurloesportshorses.co.uk, for a horse dealer stated "COSBY … 6 year old black and white gelding by Basil 111 Masterpiece V11 out of Kilfian Annie".

Issue

The complainant, who had been to view the horse, challenged whether the ad was misleading and could be substantiated, because the horse's passport showed he was younger than described.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

Response

Judi Thurloe Sportshorses (JTS) acknowledged that at the time the ad appeared, the horse was five years old rather than six and stated that that was due to an error rather than an intentional attempt to mislead consumers. They said that the complainant was made aware of the horse's real age prior to purchase.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA welcomed JTS's willingness to correct the error after we contacted them. However, we were concerned that the error had remained present for some three months after JTS became aware of it, despite the fact that the price of the horse had been amended twice during that period.  We concluded that the ads were misleading.

The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 (Substantiation).

Action

We told JTS to ensure that horses were described accurately in future.

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