Background
Ad description
A website and Instagram post from In The Style, an online fashion retailer. a. The website, seen on 29 June 2020, included the text “PAYDAY PROMO ALERT OUR BIGGEST DISCOUNT OF THE YEAR 40% OFF ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING”. Smaller text stated “*excludes New Saffron Barker, New Lorna Luxe & Beauty”. b. An Instagram post, seen on 9 July 2020, included an image with text stating “HUGE SUMMER SALE EVERYTHING £10 AND UNDER”. The caption stated “HUGE SUMMER SALE NOW LIVE [fire emoji] WITH EVERY SINGLE THING £10 AND UNDER – 100s OF HOT LINES NOW ADDED SO SHOP OUR UNDER £10 CATEGORY NOW [shopping bags emoji]”.Issue
The ASA received two complaints:
1.One complainant, who understood that not all products in ad (a) were discounted, challenged whether the claim “40% OFF ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!” was misleading, and;
2. One complainant, who understood that not all products in ad (b) were discounted, challenged whether the claim “EVERYTHING £10 AND UNDER” was misleading.
Response
1. In The Style Fashion Ltd t/a In The Style said that with regard to ad (a), they explicitly stated the exclusions which applied to the offer at the bottom of the ad. They did not require consumers to seek out any further information in their terms and conditions as this was presented in the ad.
2. With regard to ad (b), while the headline message was used to grab attention, they were explicit in the caption that the summer sale was a category and that hundreds of lines had been added. They did not make any reference to the offer being a site-wide discount.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA considered that consumers would understand the headline claim “40% OFF ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING” in ad (a) to mean that all products on the In The Style website would be reduced by 40%.We acknowledged the presence of an asterisk after the claim and the corresponding text below which stated “excludes New Saffron Barker, New Lorna Luxe & Beauty” but considered that it was not sufficient to counter the overriding impression of the ad that all products would be discounted by 40%. On that basis we concluded that the claim “40% off absolutely everything” was misleading.
On that point, ad (a) 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 3.9 3.9 Marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify. (Qualification).
2.Upheld
We considered that consumers would understand the claim “HUGE SUMMER SALE EVERYTHING £10 AND UNDER” in ad (b) to mean that all products on the In The Style website would be £10 and under. We considered that the ad, which referred to new lines being added and a “shop our under £10 category” did not make it clear that the sale did not apply to all products on the website. On that basis, we concluded that the claim “everything £10 and under” was misleading.
On that point, ad (b) 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 3.9 3.9 Marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify. (Qualification).
Action
The ads must not appear in the form complained of. We told In The Style Fashion Ltd to ensure that in future their ads did not state or imply that all their products were included in an offer, for example by referencing “everything”, if products were excluded from the offer.
