ASA Adjudication on Yorkshire Windows and Conservatories Ltd

Ad

The text of a regional press ad, for windows and doors, which had black and white chequered borders stated "Yorkshire and Derbyshire Crime Reduction Initiative Don't be one of the 733,000* victims of Domestic Burglary Annually" above a shield logo that stated "SECURED BY DESIGN". Text beneath the logo stated "Police Approved** During April you can claim a Home Security Award of £150 per window and £200 per door When you change windows and doors to high security kitemarked products ONLY from Yorkshire windows". The footnote stated "**Secured by design is the ONLY Police Approved Security Standard".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the ad was misleading, because it implied:

1. consumers could obtain a grant for replacing windows and doors, when in fact it merely offered a discount from Yorkshire Windows and Conservatories and

2. that the Police endorsed Yorkshire Windows and Conservatories, whereas they endorsed the "Secured By Design" standard.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Yorkshire Windows and Conservatories said they were careful not to use the word "grant" in the ad and the award mentioned was in the form of a discount. They said they asterisked clearly the text "police approved" so that consumers were aware that they should read the small print for further clarification. They said the ad did not say that Yorkshire Windows were police approved. They said they were listed as an approved supplier on the Secured by Design website and that they believed they had followed the requirements of the Secured by Design brand manual, which included the use of the the logo in the ad.

They said the campaign had finished at the end of April and they had no plans to run it again.

Assessment

1. & 2. Upheld

The ASA noted the text "Police Approved" was asterisked to small print that stated that the Secured by Design standard was approved by the police. We also noted Yorkshire Windows had Secured by Design accreditation for their PVCU windows and doors and were listed on the Secured by Design website as an approved supplier.

However, we considered that the claims "Yorkshire and Derbyshire Crime Reduction Initiative" and "Home Security Award", in conjunction with the black and white chequered border of the ad were likely to lead consumers to believe Yorkshire Windows and their "Home Security Award" were approved by the police. In addition we considered that, given the context of the whole ad, consumers were likely to interpret the "award" as a grant that could be obtained as part of the "Crime Reduction Initiative" rather than a short-term discount offered by Yorkshire Windows on their products. We considered that it was not sufficiently clear that only the Secured by Design security standard had been police approved or that Yorkshire Windows were merely offering a discount on their products. We concluded that the ad was likely to mislead.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 14.5 (Testimonials and endorsements).

Action

We told Yorkshire Windows and Conservatories to ensure that future ads did not suggest that the police endorsed their company or that their own discounts were grants or third party awards. We advised them to seek guidance from the CAP Copy Advice team for their future ads.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)