Ad description
A banner ad on Facebook, promoting a torch, stated "supertorch.com - It's not a laser. It's now in the U.K! Very surprised. Click Here!".
Issue
The complainant, who had ordered the torch and been charged £22.50 in import duty, challenged whether the claim "It's now in the U.K!" was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Metem Technology Company Ltd, t/a supertorch.com, explained that their products were delivered from Turkey and said they had intended the claim "It's now in the U.K!" to emphasise the fact that their products could be bought from the UK through their online websites and delivered at no additional cost. They stated that they had been delivering products to the UK since 2012 and acknowledged that from time to time some additional costs had been incurred by their customers, due to custom regulations and other circumstances. They said it was their practice when informed about such costs to refund customers accordingly. supertorch.com also noted that the transaction process on their website included the information that the product would be delivered from Turkey.
After further consideration of the complaint, supertorch.com said they had decided to make changes to the ad. They also noted that the complainant had not been refunded the costs incurred by delivery from outside the UK and said this was due to an error on their part which they would seek to rectify.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA considered that the claim "It's now in the U.K!" implied that stocks of the advertised torch were held in, and despatched from, the UK, and that that information was likely to indicate to consumers that no import duty would be payable. We understood that the products were in fact held in and despatched from Turkey and that some consumers incurred delivery costs arising from that despatch location. Although supertorch.com stated that they refunded such costs whenever they became aware of them, we understood that that had not been the complainant's experience. We noted that supertorch.com described that experience as an error and intended to contact the complainant to try to resolve the issue. However, we considered that, even were all charges associated with delivery from Turkey routinely refunded by supertorch.com, that did not alter the impression given by the claim "It's now in the U.K!" that no such costs would be payable. In addition, we considered that the understanding that the products were stocked in and despatched from the UK could influence a consumer's response to the ad in other ways, such as by implying that delivery time might be shorter than it was, or that revenue would contribute directly to the UK economy.
Although we welcomed supertorch.com's assurance that they would amend their advertising, because we considered that the claim "It's now in the U.K!" implied that the torch was stocked in and despatched from the UK when it was not, and because we considered that that fact was likely to affect consumers' response to the ad, we concluded that it was misleading and in breach of the Code.
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
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Metem Technology Ltd not to claim or imply that their products were stocked in or despatched from the UK if that was not the case.
