Ad description
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.
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 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation).
Action
We told JTS to ensure that horses were described accurately in future.
