ASA Adjudication on Automobile Association Ltd

Ad

A TV ad, for the Automobile Association (AA), featured an AA worker who said "98% of members that have used us would recommend us to a friend"; on-screen text stated "Based on 105 member sample. AA Road Ad Tracking Survey 2006".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the claim "98% of members that have used us would recommend us to a friend" was misleading, because he believed the sample size of 105 was too small to be representative of AA membership.

BCAP TV Code

Response

The Automobile Association (AA) said they had 5.9 million personal members and around 35% of those members used their service in any year. They said the claim was based on independent market research which included both members and non-members; they sent a copy of the relevant pages of the research. They asserted that the ad made clear the figure was taken from a survey and the number of people that had been surveyed; they believed viewers would therefore not be misled.

The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) believed the ad was not misleading because the basis for the claim was made clear in the on-screen text. They believed that, although the size of the sample might be small, almost all of the people surveyed would recommend the AA to a friend and they believed therefore it was reasonable and valid to make the claim based on that size of sample.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted the independent market research sent by the AA showed that, of 105 people surveyed, 103 of them had said they would recommend the AA; we noted the 105 people surveyed had all had a breakdown in the last two years and we were satisfied that the claim was based on a recent sample of members who had used the AA service. We noted the AA had 5.9 million members but also noted the on-screen text in the ad stated "Based on 105 member sample. AA Road Ad Tracking Survey 2006" and considered that, because the ad made clear the number of people surveyed, readers were likely to realise that the claim "98% of members that have used us would recommend us to a friend" was based only on the 105 people surveyed, not on all members of the AA.

We investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.1 (Evidence) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action required.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)