ASA Adjudication on DSG Retail Ltd

Ad

A TV ad for PC World showed a member of staff discussing the Advent 7103 laptop with a customer; he said "Advent 7103 with Intel Centrino mobile technology, grab it now for £349, they're normally £449, that's a fantastic deal". The screen-grab at the end of the ad showed the "Advent 7105 ... £349 … 1024 MB RAM 50 Gb hard drive …".

Issue

1. The complainants challenged whether the ad, in particular the pricing information and specification shown at the end, were misleading. One complainant claimed that he went to his local PC World store and was informed by staff that the information on the screen-grab in the ad appeared in error and that the Advent 7105 cost £449, not £349.

2. Another complainant believed the Advent 7103 did not have "Intel Centrino" as advertised.

BCAP TV Code

Response

1. PC World explained that the screen-grab in the original ad was incorrect. The error was brought to their marketing departments attention and the ad was re-shot the next day with the correct information about the Advent 7103 in the screen-grab. They sent us a copy of the amended ad.

The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) reiterated that the Advent 7105 specification appeared alongside the Advent 7103 price in error.

2. PC World explained that Intel Centrino was a standard to which a laptop complied in order to be able to use the Intel Centrino logo. They stated that it was not simply the main processor chip but the ways in which that chip worked with the other components, in particular the wireless connection. PC World sent documentation directly from Intel, which confirmed that the Advent 7103 met the Centrino standard and therefore gave their permission for the Intel Centrino logo to be used in PC World's ad.

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA acknowledged that the screen-grab in the original ad mistakenly showed the specification for the Advent 7105, which was a more expensive product than the Advent 7103, yet showed the price of the Advent 7103. We also noted that, as soon as PC World were aware of the mistake, the ad was amended and the revised version showed the Advent 7103 with the correct specification at the end. Nevertheless, the original ad had misled some viewers.

On this point, the ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rule 5.1 (Misleading advertising).

2. Not upheld

We considered that the evidence provided by PC World substantiated that the Advent 7103 met the Centrino standard, which was why they were allowed to use the Intel Centrino logo in the ad. Although we were concerned that one of the complainants had been informed in a PC World store that the laptop did not have Intel Centrino, we considered that the ad was not misleading on that point.

On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rule 5.1 (Misleading advertising) but did not find it in breach.

Action

The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form. We reminded PC World that future ads should be carefully checked prior to being advertised.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)