Ad description
A regional press ad, for Hanson Roofing and Building Ltd, seen on 4 July 2019, included the logos for both the British Board of Agrement (BBA) and Home Improvement Protection (HIP).
Issue
Both complainants challenged whether the implied claims that Hanson Roofing and Building Ltd were members of the British Board of Agrement (BBA) and the Home Improvement Protection (HIP) were misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Hanson Roofing and Building responded that they were members of the BBA but did not provide any evidence to support their membership. They stated that the reference to the HIP was an error and it would be removed from their marketing communications in future.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA considered that consumers would understand from the inclusion of the logos in the ad that Hanson Roofing and Building were members of the BBA and HIP. Although Hanson Roofing and Building told us that they were members of the BBA, they did not provide any evidence to show that this was the case and we therefore concluded that the claim had not been substantiated. Additionally, they had confirmed that they were not a member of the HIP. Because Hanson Roofing and Building were not members of the HIP and had not substantiated their claim that they were a member of the BBA, we concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation) and 3.50 (Endorsements and testimonials).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Hanson Roofing and Building Ltd not to state or imply that they were the member of any body, e.g. BBA or HIP, by featuring their logos in their ads, unless they held documentary evidence that they were members of those bodies.
