ASA Adjudication on Halfords Ltd

Ad

A TV ad for a sales promotion showed a Trax Outrage adult mountain bike on screen, together with close-ups of various features of the bike. On-screen text stated "HALF PRICE … £99.99" with "£199.99" written above and crossed out. The voice-over stated "At Halfords this Christmas we're bursting with bright ideas. With adult bikes like this high-spec, dual suspension mountain bike at half price, down to only £99.99". A number of children's bikes and bike accessories were also featured. The voice-over concluded "Gifts all ready to go at Halfords now", as bikes and a gift box were pictured on screen with the Halfords logo and slogan.

Issue

Two viewers challenged whether the mountain bike featured could be described as 'high spec', because they considered it was a basic standard model.

BCAP TV Code

Response

Halfords Ltd (Halfords) said the Trax Outrage was an entry level bike and with a number of features: dual suspension, 18 speed Shimano gears, hi-tensile steel frame, V-brakes and Sram shifters.  They pointed out that Halfords sold bikes that retailed from less than £100 to several thousand pounds and they felt that "high-spec" was a subjective statement about which perception would vary, depending on a consumer's cycling experience and expectation.  They gave details of the Trax Outrage's features compared with similar bikes sold in Halfords and by one of their competitors and felt it was comparatively high spec.  For example the Trax Outrage had both front and rear suspension, while the others were generally non-suspension bikes. They also believed the Trax Outrage included higher quality components from leading brands, often used in more expensive bikes. They considered that for an entry level rider, the level of rider the Trax Outrage was aimed at, the specification was of a high standard.

Clearcast said they supported Halfords' position that the interpretation of "high spec" was a matter of opinion; and that it was the advertiser's good opinion of their offering. They did not consider that it was materially misleading.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted that the Trax Outrage was an entry level bike, which was not aimed at experienced riders and considered that was represented by the comparatively low price of the bike.  We understood that other new, full-suspension, entry-level mountain bikes selling around the £100 mark generally had a similar or equal spec to the Trax Outrage but noted some had higher specs.  Although we considered that consumers might infer from its price that the Trax Outrage was a low cost entry point to the mountain bike market, we noted that the ad did not specify that the bike was "entry-level".  While we considered that the term "high-tech" was subjective, we considered that some consumers might believe the bike was of a higher quality and spec than most other similarly priced, entry-level bikes.

Because the bike was not of a significantly higher spec or quality than other similarly priced, entry-level bikes, we concluded the description "high-spec" was misleading.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.2.1 and 5.2.2 (Claims).

Action

The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)