Ad description
A TV ad and an ad on Victoria Plum's YouTube page, seen on 24 November 2017 for a Mode Ellis freestanding bath:
a. The TV ad featured text which scored through £1299 and showed a 'Now' price of £379. A voice-over stated "... And now at victoriaplum.com you can save up to 70% off, including this contemporary Ellis bath, only £379."
b. The same ad appeared on Victoria Plum's YouTube page.
Issue
Victorian Plumbing, who believed the product was never sold at £1299, challenged whether the savings claim was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Victoria Plum Ltd provided sales data over a three-month period, including the period for which the sales event ran, which they believed demonstrated that the product had been sold at £1299 and that the saving was not misleading.
Clearcast stated that they received confirmation from Victoria Plum prior to broadcast that the product was sold at £1299. They stated that the confirmation demonstrated that the discount was a genuine one and that the product had been sold at the higher price in significant quantities previously.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA considered that consumers would understand the claim "was £1299, now £379" to represent a genuine saving against the price the product was usually sold.
The pricing history provided by Victoria Plum showed that the product price fluctuated throughout the three-month period leading up to the sales event. It showed that the product was sold initially at £899 for 35 days, at £949 for a further 10 days and at £999 for 12 days before being priced at £1,299 on 26 October 2017.
We noted that the “was” price of £1299 had been in place for 27 continuous days prior to the “now price of £379. However, this was significantly lower than the period of time before which it had been priced at £1299, where it had been priced at lower amounts over a total period of 57 days.
Because the price had fluctuated between four different prices before the sales event, including for the longest period at a lower price of £899 for 35 days, we considered it had not been demonstrated that the higher price of £1299 was the usual selling price of the product.
Therefore, because we had not seen evidence that the savings claim represented a genuine saving against the usual selling price of the product, we concluded that the savings claim was misleading.
Ad (a) breached BCAP Code rules
3.1
3.1
The standards objectives, insofar as they relate to advertising, include:
a) that persons under the age of 18 are protected;
b) that material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder is not included in television and radio services;
c) that the proper degree of responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes;
d) that generally accepted standards are applied to the contents of television and radio services so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from inclusion in such services of offensive and harmful material;
e) that the inclusion of advertising which may be misleading, harmful or offensive in television and radio services is prevented;
f) that the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to advertising included in television and radio services are complied with [in particular in respect of television those obligations set out in Articles 3b, 3e,10, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 22 of Directive 89/552/EEC (the Audi Visual Media Services Directive)];
g) that there is no use of techniques which exploit the possibility of conveying a message to viewers or listeners, or of otherwise influencing their minds, without their being aware, or fully aware, of what has occurred"
Section
3.9
3.9
Broadcasters must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that the audience is 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.
2).
(Misleading advertising) and
3.9
3.9
Broadcasters must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that the audience is 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).
Ad (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
The standards objectives, insofar as they relate to advertising, include:
a) that persons under the age of 18 are protected;
b) that material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder is not included in television and radio services;
c) that the proper degree of responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes;
d) that generally accepted standards are applied to the contents of television and radio services so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from inclusion in such services of offensive and harmful material;
e) that the inclusion of advertising which may be misleading, harmful or offensive in television and radio services is prevented;
f) that the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to advertising included in television and radio services are complied with [in particular in respect of television those obligations set out in Articles 3b, 3e,10, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 22 of Directive 89/552/EEC (the Audi Visual Media Services Directive)];
g) that there is no use of techniques which exploit the possibility of conveying a message to viewers or listeners, or of otherwise influencing their minds, without their being aware, or fully aware, of what has occurred"
Section
3.9
3.9
Broadcasters must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that the audience is 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.
2).
(Misleading advertising),
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) and
3.1
3.1
The standards objectives, insofar as they relate to advertising, include:
a) that persons under the age of 18 are protected;
b) that material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder is not included in television and radio services;
c) that the proper degree of responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes;
d) that generally accepted standards are applied to the contents of television and radio services so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from inclusion in such services of offensive and harmful material;
e) that the inclusion of advertising which may be misleading, harmful or offensive in television and radio services is prevented;
f) that the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to advertising included in television and radio services are complied with [in particular in respect of television those obligations set out in Articles 3b, 3e,10, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 22 of Directive 89/552/EEC (the Audi Visual Media Services Directive)];
g) that there is no use of techniques which exploit the possibility of conveying a message to viewers or listeners, or of otherwise influencing their minds, without their being aware, or fully aware, of what has occurred"
Section
3.9
3.9
Broadcasters must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that the audience is 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.
2).
(Prices).
Action
The ads must not appear again in its current form. We told Victoria Plum Ltd to ensure their future savings claim did not mislead and to ensure they substantiated savings against the usual selling price of their products.
