ASA Adjudication on B&Q plc

Ad

Three TV ads and a national press ad announced special offers on various products at B&Q:

a. The first TV ad, for Crown paint, stated "Crown paint is available at £10 for ten litres at B&Q". Large on-screen text stated "CROWN PAINT £10 FOR 10 LITRES".

b. A second TV ad began with a B&Q employee saying "If you need a new bathroom suite, get to B&Q in the next few days". A bath, basin and toilet were then shown with the price "£125". A voice-over stated "For four days only this bath, basin and loo is just £125". On-screen text stated "Bath ... £50. Basin ... £30. Toilet ... £45. Excludes taps & wastes". Crossed out prices of "£59.49", "£34.99" and "£49.99" were listed after the bath, basin and toilet respectively. The ad ended with large on-screen text that stated "going going gone ENDS TUESDAY".

c. A third TV ad began with a B&Q employee saying "I often tell customers that they should insulate their loft … we can do three rolls for £3 ... a pound a roll, that's money well spent I reckon". A voice-over stated "Get down to B&Q now for your loft insulation" while the ad showed rolls of loft insulation with the price "£3". On-screen text stated "While stocks last. Max 15 packs per customer". The ad ended with large on-screen text that stated "LOFT INSULATION £3 FOR A 3 ROLL PACK".

d. The national press ad was headlined "3 rolls loft insulation only £3" and showed a pack of three rolls labelled "B&Q DIY LOFT INSULATION". Further text stated "1 pack contains 3 rolls ... This offer is limited to 80m2 per customer (15 packs)". Small print stated " ... PRODUCT AVAILABILITY varies by store so please check before travelling ...".

Issue

The ASA received six complaints:

1. One viewer challenged the availability of ten litres of Crown paint for £10 in ad (a).

2. Three viewers challenged the availability of the bathroom suite for £125 in ad (b).

3. Three complainants, one of whom mentioned the press ad and all of whom mentioned the TV ad, challenged the availability of three rolls of loft insulation for £3 in ads (c) and (d).

CAP Code (Edition 11)

BCAP TV Code

Response

B&Q said they had a system whereby a store with no stock of a particular product could order that product from any other B&Q store that had availability.  They were disappointed that the complainants had not been offered that option by stores, but said they had all three products in stock more than a month after the ads appeared.

1. B&Q said the Crown paint had been sold in their stores at £10 for ten litres for the last six months of 2008.  At the beginning of 2009, the price increased to £12.47 for three weeks then dropped back to £10 when the TV ad was broadcast.  Before the TV ad was aired, weekly sales peaked at 17,000 units.  Their commercial team forecasted that TV advertising of the product would result in a 30% increase in previous best sales, or sales of 22,000 units in a week.  However, the actual sales increase was 105%, which meant sales of 35,000 for the white paint and almost 24,000 for the magnolia.  They submitted data of sales of the paint before and after the TV ad aired.

Clearcast said they received an assurance from B&Q prior to broadcast that the offer was available at all stores.  They were told it was anticipated that the offer would be available for at least two weeks after the TV ad's final date of broadcast and there would be enough stock to reach anticipated demand for the duration of the offer.  The ad was approved on that basis.

2. B&Q said the bathroom at £125 was offered from 14 to 17 February only and comprised three separate items: a 'toilet to go', a 'basin to go' and a trade acrylic bath.  They said they normally sold 2,500 'toilets to go' per week across all stores and their 'entry level' bathroom suites, retailing at £199, normally sold around five units per week per store, but they ensured a much greater level of stock was in store for the promotion; they submitted spreadsheets of stock quantities at the time of the TV ad's appearance.  They believed they had forecasted the response to the event reasonably and take-up was exceptional.  They mentioned that a substitute bath was available at the store's discretion if supplies of the trade acrylic bath ran out.

Clearcast said they again received confirmation that the offer was available across all B&Q stores and there would be enough stock to reach anticipated demand over the offer period.  In this case the offer was available for only four days, which was made clear in the ad.

3. B&Q said they sold a similar loft insulation product for £5 in January; the highest recorded sales of that product in one day was 83,000 units.  Their buyers forecasted higher sales for the £3 rolls and bought a total of 355,520 units for the offer, which were delivered to stores on a weekly basis (because the insulation rolls were very large and took up a lot of storage space, it was impractical to deliver them all in one batch).  They said the last delivery was timed so that the loft insulation would still be in store two weeks after the TV ad's final air date, and they still had 40,000 units in stock in most of their warehouse format stores more than a month after the ads appeared.  They said the volume of sales was unprecedented and, over the period of deliveries, resulted in the highest recorded sales of insulation in one day at 129,000 units, much higher than peak trading of the £5 rolls in January.  They submitted a spreadsheet showing the breakdown of stock deliveries by date across all their stores.

Clearcast explained there was no specific offer period for the loft insulation at three rolls for £3 but they understood from B&Q that there would be enough stock to last for two weeks after the TV ad's final date of broadcast.  Clearcast pointed out that the ad contained the on-screen text "While stocks last".

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA noted the paint had been available at the same price of £10 for ten litres before the TV ad was broadcast and although take-up after the product was advertised on TV was greater than anticipated, we considered B&Q had shown they made a reasonable estimate of the likely increase in sales, based on previous best sales, and had stock in place to meet that estimate.  Although demand exceeded estimates we considered, at the time the ad was broadcast, B&Q had no reasonable grounds for believing they might not be able to supply the advertised product at the advertised price in reasonable quantities.

On this point, we investigated ad (a) under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.2 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence) and 5.3.4 (Availability of products advertised at a specified price) but did not find it in breach.

2. Not upheld

We saw from the spreadsheets that the stock quantities of the bath, basin and toilet over the offer period were significantly higher than the quantities B&Q said they normally sold at non-offer prices.  We noted there seemed to be more stock than sales of the bath, basin and toilet across stores during the offer period, and a substitute bath was available.  We also noted the ad made clear the offer was for four days only and on-screen text stated "going going gone  ENDS TUESDAY", which conveyed a sense of urgency.  We concluded that B&Q had made a reasonable estimate of demand for stock and sufficient quantities seemed to be available.

On this point, we investigated ad (b) under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.2 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence) and 5.3.4 (Availability of products advertised at a specified price) but did not find it in breach.

3. Not upheld

We noted a similar loft insulation product had been available at a higher price earlier in the year and although take-up after the price was reduced was greater than anticipated, we considered B&Q had shown they made a reasonable estimate of the likely increase in sales, based on previous best sales.  Although it transpired that demand exceeded estimates we considered, at the time the TV and press ads appeared, B&Q had reasonable grounds for believing they could satisfy demand.  We saw from the spreadsheet that stock was delivered to all stores and deliveries were staggered, with stock levels being replenished and many stores receiving deliveries on a weekly basis.  We also noted the TV ad stated "while stocks last" and the national press ad stated "PRODUCT AVAILABILITY varies by store so please check before travelling", which we considered helped to manage consumers' expectations.

On this point, we investigated ad (c) under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.2 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence) and 5.3.4 (Availability of products advertised at a specified price) but did not find it in breach.  We also investigated ad (d) under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), 16.4 (Availability of products) and 27.4 (Sales promotion rules - Introduction) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)