ASA Adjudication on B&Q plc

Ad

a. A TV ad for a DIY store featured a woman standing in a queue at a bus stop. The woman said "Half price on kitchen units. No, no, no. Half price on all kitchen units, all bathrooms and installation". The ad then showed the same woman, in B&Q uniform, walking through a store as she said "In the B&Q sale there's half price on all kitchen units, all bathrooms and installation. Plus until the 8th of January there is up to 2 years interest free credit. Let's do it. Let's B&Q it".

b. A press ad for the same DIY store had the headline "SALE. 15% OFF EVERYTHING until Monday 29th December when you spend £50 or more**". Underneath were pictures of a kitchen, a shower and a bathroom suite with the discounted prices in boxes next to them. Text at the right-hand side of the ad stated "plus 1/2 price ALL kitchen units & bathrooms plus 1/2 price installation*". Footnoted text at the bottom of the ad stated "Availability will vary by store so please check before travelling ... *Terms and conditions apply, please see in store for details. 1/2 price offer relates to pre-VAT reduction prices. **Excludes gift cards, installation services, delivery and diy.com".

c. A sales promotion on the B&Q website stated "SALE Don't miss out! All Kitchen Units HALF PRICE. All Bathrooms HALF PRICE".

Issue

1. One complainant, who noted that a kitchen cabinet priced at £41 before the sale began was priced at £82 during the sale with a 50% discount, so that the final price remained at £41, challenged whether the TV ad (a) and press ad (b) were misleading, because he believed some kitchen units were not genuinely half price.

2. A second complainant challenged whether the TV ad (a) and website sales promotion (c) were misleading, because he believed that not all bathroom items were included in the sale.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

BCAP TV Code

Response

1. B&Q plc (B&Q) said all of their kitchen units were half price during the promotional period (26 December 2008 - 5 February 2009). They provided documentation that they said showed the prices of all kitchen units on sale before, during and after the promotional period, and which they said showed that the half price offer was genuine.

Clearcast said they received substantiation from B&Q prior to clearing the ad, which they said confirmed that the half price offer applied to all kitchen units and bathrooms and that there were no terms and conditions to the offer. They said that substantiation also confirmed that the reductions complied with the May 2008 Pricing Practices Guide issued by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in terms of being genuine reductions.

2. B&Q explained that they defined "bathroom" to mean a bath, a basin and a toilet. They provided documentation that they said showed that all baths, basins and toilets from their ranges were included in the half price sale. They said other bathroom items, which were outside the scope of the sale, were not half price.

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA noted the responses of B&Q and Clearcast. We noted that the data provided by B&Q showed that all kitchen units, including the one referred to by the complainant, were half price during the sale period and had been sold at full price in the pre-sale period. Although we noted that B&Q had not attempted to explain the complainant's experience, we concluded that, because the data showed that all kitchen units were genuinely half price during the sale, ads (a) and (b) were not misleading on this point.

On this point we investigated ad (a) under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1, 5.1.2 and 5.1.3 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence), 5.2.3 (Qualifications) and 5.3.1 (Accurate pricing) but did not find it in breach.

We also investigated ad (b) under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 and 7.2 (Truthfulness), 15.5 (Prices) and 27.4 (Sales promotion rules) but did not find it in breach.

2. Upheld

We noted B&Q's response. We considered that in the absence of any qualification to the contrary, consumers were likely to understand the claims "half price ... on all bathrooms" in ad (a) and "All bathrooms half price" in ad (c) to mean that all baths, basins and toilets were half price during the offer period. We noted from the documentation provided that some basins in the Modular bathroom range were not included in the half price sale, and we understood that that was because B&Q considered the Modular range to be furniture rather than a bathroom suite. However, because we considered that consumers would expect all basins to be included in the sale, regardless of what range they were part of, and because the ads did not include qualifying text that made clear which bathroom ranges were excluded from the sale, we concluded that ads (a) and (c) were misleading.

On this point ad (a) breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1, 5.1.2 and 5.1.3 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence), 5.2.3 (Qualifications) and 5.3.1 (Accurate pricing).

Ad (c) breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 and 7.2 (Truthfulness), 15.5 (Prices) and 27.4 (Sales promotion rules).  

Action

Ads (a) and (c) should not appear again in their current form. We told B&Q to ensure that future similar ads included qualifying text that made it clear which bathroom ranges were included in the promotion.

No further action necessary in relation to ad (b).

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)