ASA Adjudication on Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc

Ad

A national press ad, for Morrison supermarkets, was headlined "Saving energy doesn't have to cost the Earth Buy One Get one FREE ... " and showed a pack shot of two Philips energy saver light bulbs. The packaging shown in the ad included the claims "11 WATT ENERGY" and, in a light bulb diagram, "LIGHT 60 WATT".

Issue

1. The complainant challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that 60 watts of light was obtained from 11 watts of electrical energy and thereby exaggerated the contribution made by the light bulbs to the general problem of global warming.

2. The ASA challenged whether the implication that the light bulbs produced light equivalent to 60 watts, from 11 watts of electricity, was misleading.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Philips Electronics (Philips) responded to the complaint on the behalf of Morrison supermarkets (Morrisons). Philips provided an independent test report from Lighting Association Laboratories, which complied with the Energy Saving Trusts lamp specification, that showed that the energy saver bulb had a lumen output similar to 600 lumen or 60 watts. They pointed out that the packaging of the light bulb made clear that the comparison was with a 1,000 hour soft colour bulb of similar light output and that the energy saver bulb used five times less electricity..

Assessment

1. Not upheld

We acknowledged that the complainant believed the diagrammatic claim could be interpreted to mean that the energy saver bulb would emit over five times more light energy than the electrical energy consumed to power it. We nevertheless considered that, particularly because of the traditional light bulb shape used, readers were more likely to infer from the ad that the energy saver light bulb supplied light equivalent to that produced from a 60 watt filament light bulb, but with far less electricity usage. Because of that, we concluded that the ad was unlikely to mislead on that point.

On point 1, the ad was investigated under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 19.1 (Other comparisons) but not found in breach.

2. Upheld

The ASA noted the reference to the comparison with a 1,000 hour soft colour bulb of similar light output on the saver bulb packaging was not legible in the ad. We considered that readers would infer from the diagrammatic claim that the energy saver light bulb supplied light the equivalent of a 60 watt filament light bulb. Because we understood that the lumen equivalence of the energy saver bulb was similar to, but not the direct equivalent of, a 60 watt soft coated filament bulb or a clear tungsten filament bulb, we concluded that the claim could mislead.

On point 2, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 19.1 (Other comparisons).

Action

The ad should not appear again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)