Ad description
A teleshopping presentation for Morphic watches, seen on Ideal World on 11 August 2024, featured two presenters describing and demonstrating the features of several watches, including the “Morphic 10ATM WR Black Dial Men’s Watch with Stainless Steel Strap in Silver Tone” and “Morphic 10ATM WR Blue Dial Men’s Watch with Stainless Steel Strap in Silver Tone”. One of the presenters said, “We’re going to do these at a fraction of the price. You can pay anywhere from to £1,800, £1,500, £1,200 […] This watch alone at £890 is a great buy […] First of all they’re incredibly expensive, ok, you pay a lot of money for a Morphic […] It’s £39.99 on four flexes and delivery of £1.99. You’ve got this for £159.99. Again, you’re saving a huge amount on these […] At £860 you can see why […] This is at £39.99, it’s on four flexes and reduced ‘p and p’, nearly £860 a watch, you’ve got this for £159.99”. During the presentation on-screen text stated, “IDEAL WORLD PRICE £159.99 P&P .99”and “4 X FLEXI-PAYMENTS OF £39.99”.
Issue
The complainant, who did not believe the watches were likely to retail at over £1,000, challenged whether the price statements were misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Shop TJC Ltd t/a Ideal World said that due to staff changes they were unable to provide the price comparison evidence they may have held at the time of the presentation in August 2024.They provided six examples of similar Morphic watches retailed by UK websites at around £440 as of 12 January 2025. They also provided an example from a USA-based website which showed a Morphic watch being sold at $229.99, with the ad also stating, “Retail $1,000.00”.
They added that they were improving their training to ensure compliance with the BCAP Code and were taking steps to ensure that all documentary evidence for price comparisons was centrally available. They had also informed their presenters of the complaint.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA considered that consumers would understand from the claim “You can pay anywhere from to £1,800, £1,500, £1,200” that the Morphic watches usually sold at those prices. We considered that consumers would therefore view the Ideal World price of £159.99 as a significant saving against the usual selling price, and the claim “We’re going to do these at a fraction of the price” added to this impression.
CAP guidance on “Teleshopping price indications and comparisons” (the Guidance) explained that advertisers must ensure that comparative or illustrative prices, whether they were recommended retail prices (RRP), guide prices, or similar, were genuine and not likely to mislead. This applied both to explicit and implied comparisons. Broadcasters must hold documentary evidence to support price claims before transmission.
The evidence did not substantiate the claim that the watches were usually sold at the significantly higher prices stated in the ad, either at the time it was broadcast or when the evidence was collated. In the absence of evidence to substantiate the price and savings claims, we concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached BCAP Code rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.9 (Substantiation), 3.18 (Prices), 3.39 and 3.40 (Price Comparisons).
Action
The ad should not appear again in the form complained of. We told Shop TJC Ltd t/a Ideal World not to make price and savings claims in their ads unless they held adequate substantiation relating to the usual selling price of the products.
