Asda price guarantee complaints upheld
ASA tells Asda to change its advertising following complaints by Morrisons and Tesco that its price guarantee was misleading
Supermarket giant Asda was today ordered by the UK's advertising watchdog to make changes to the way it presents its price guarantee a key plank of its multi-million pound marketing strategy following complaints from competitors.
If customers found their groceries cheaper elsewhere, namely Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Morrisons, the television and national press ads promised to refund the difference in price on their next shop.
But Morrisons and Tesco complained that the adverts were misleading for suggesting that Asda was generally cheaper than themselves and Sainsbury's.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the adverts run by the UK's second largest supermarket group must not appear again in their current form. The complaints and adjudication relate to the original Asda price guarantee campaign launched last April, not the one unveiled last month with a minimum 10% price refund guarantee.
The ASA partly upheld or upheld four of the nine complaints, ruling that Asda did not make it clear enough that the price guarantee did not apply to non-grocery products, such as books and football-related items (including World Cup deckchairs), which appeared prominently in the adverts.
The ASA said in its adjudication: "We told Asda to ensure their adverts did not suggest their price guarantee applied to all items, including non-grocery items and items that were specifically excluded; or that their savings claims referred to shopping generally rather than specific items, if that was not the case."
Asda said its processes for comparing prices between the retailers were robust, accurate and supported by Clearcast, which approves advertisements before broadcast. It said the adverts did not imply that all products sold at Asda were covered ! by the p rice guarantee offer. It believed the adverts made it clear that the offer applied to comparable grocery products.
It said in a statement: "The Asda price guarantee is one of the easiest and best ways for shoppers to compare the cost of their groceries. It covers nearly 15,000 different comparable products, including 2,900 fresh foods like fruit and vegetables, milk, bread, fresh meat and fish, plus big brands and own labels too. It even includes half-price deals available at the other big stores. Which is why our customers love it and our rivals don't."
The Asda price guarantee was launched in April last year. It covers more than 15,000 branded and own-label grocery products, and includes items that are on promotion in rival stores.
To ensure complete price transparency and accuracy the price guarantee is powered by Mysupermarket.co.uk, the independent online price-checking website.
Tesco welcomed the ASA's ruling and urged it to reach a similar decision on its complaint about Asda's latest price guarantee.
Professor Gary Davies, head of the reputation, brand and competitiveness group at Manchester Business School, said: "Every supermarket would like you to believe that they are, if not the cheapest place to shop, then certainly not more expensive than their leading competitor. It's not surprising then to see that the main complainers to the ASA about Asda's latest attempt to claim the lowest price high ground are their competitors, rather than members of the public.
"For us, the increasingly financially challenged shoppers, it is impossible to know who to believe."
Comments