ASA Adjudication on Halfords Ltd

Ad

A national press ad, for Halfords, stated "20% OFF ALL TOMTOM GO" and featured three TomTom sat navs. Text beneath the TomTom Go520 stated "SAVE £120 ... NOW £179.99" and alongside that text the ad showed a list of cascading prices each with a line through "WAS £299.99, £249.99, £199.99, £194.99". Text next to the TomTom Go 720 stated "SAVE £106 ... NOW £223.99 ... WAS £329.99, £279.99, £229.99". Text next to the TomTom GO 9201 stated "SAVE £80 ... NOW £319.99 ... WAS £399.99".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the claim "20% off all TomTom Go" was misleading, because there did not seem to be a 20% discount on the most recent selling price.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Halfords said the headline would have been more accurate if it had stated "at least 20% off", because all three products shown had been discounted by at least 20% but two of the products had greater discounts.  They said they had therefore undersold the offer but it was still in compliance with the Code.  They said all TomTom Go products in the range were charged at a higher price for a minimum of 28 days in the last six months.  For example, the TomTom Go 520 was charged at a higher price of £299.99 between August and October 2007.  They said there were some intervening prices before the advertised price of £179.99 on the TomTom Go 520 and those intervening prices were clearly detailed within the price boxes in the ad.  They said to ensure that they complied with the Consumer Protection Act 1987 in relation to Misleading Price Indications they adhered to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform's (DBERR) Code of Practice for Traders on Price Indications.  They said Trading Standards had confirmed that the approach taken in the ad complied with the requirements of Code.  They therefore believed the ad was truthful, honest and fair.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the ad stated "20% of all TomTom Go" and displayed three TomTom models.  We noted there was a single price reduction on the TomTom Go 9201, which equated to a 20% discount.  We noted, however, that the discount on the most recent selling price of the TomTom Go 520 and TomTom Go 720 was approximately 8% and 3% respectively.  We noted the ad displayed several intervening prices for the TomTom Go 520 and 720, which each had a line through.  We noted Halfords had confirmed that all the TomTom Gos had been charged at the higher price for a minimum of 28 days in the last six months and they therefore believed they had complied with the requirements of the Code of Practice for Traders on Price Indications.  

We considered, however, that readers were likely to infer from the ad that the "20% off" referred to a discount on the most recent selling price.  We considered that the depiction of the intervening selling prices did not make sufficiently clear to consumers that the discount related to the original selling price only.  We therefore considered the heading and the use of text such as "save £120" exaggerated the savings available to consumers.  We concluded that in the absence of clear information about the basis of the discount, the ad was likely to mislead.

The ad breached CAP Code clause 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action

We told Halfords to ensure that they stated clearly in their ads in future if their advertised discounts related to the original rather than the most recent selling price.  We advised them to seek guidance from the CAP Copy Advice team for their future advertising.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)