ASA Adjudication on Stewart Milne Group Ltd

Ad

A regional press ad, for Stuart Milne homes, was headlined "TAKE LIFE A LITTLE EASIER" above a photograph depicting a part timber-framed Tudor-style house on the edge of a tree-lined canal. A number of barges were moored at the edges of the canal. Text in small-print in the bottom-left of the photograph stated "Worsley Canal". Text beneath the photograph stated "Chorlton Fold is an exclusive small development in the heart of desirable Monton, close to its lovely High Street, designer shops, quaint village green and peaceful canal that meanders through green spaces. It's hard to believe that it is only 10 minutes drive from Central Manchester ... you have the chance of being one of the privileged few who will live at this enviable address."

The ad also contained a map and a photograph of a living room interior to the right of the main photograph. The map was marked with a dot labelled "Chorlton Fold" and also, some distance below that, with an oblong shape close to the words "Monton Green".

Issue

The complainant believed the ad was misleading because the photograph depicted a location called "the Boatsteps" at Worsley village and the canal was called the "Bridgewater Canal" and not "Worsley Canal" as marked in the ad. He believed the ad misrepresented the location of the development.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Stewart Milne Group Ltd trading as Stewart Milne Homes (Stewart Milne), said the development of Chorlton Fold was within two miles of Worsley village by car and was a twenty minute walk away, therefore they believed Chorlton Fold could be deemed close to the canal in Worsley. They said the designer shops and the village green referred to were in the village of Monton, a five-minute walk from the Chorlton Fold development.

They said their ad did not state that the development was on, or overlooked, the canal nor that it was in Worlsey village. They said the image had been used in order to suggest the general location and atmosphere of the area and was not intended to portray the actual site, which was clearly annotated on the location map.

They said they acknowledged the canal had been wrongly labelled the "Worsley canal" in the ad when it should have been the "Bridgewater canal" but said this was a genuine mistake and they had not intended to mislead.

Assessment

Upheld

We acknowledged that the development at Chorlton Fold was two miles drive and one mile on foot from Worsley village where the photograph was shot. However, we considered that the photograph, the location of which was not labelled, combined with text directly underneath stating, "Chorlton Fold is an exclusive small development in the heart of desirable Monton, close to its lovely High Street, designer shops, its quaint village green and peaceful canal that meanders through green spaces", gave the impression that the photograph was taken in Monton and not in Worsley. We also noted the map in the ad did not mark the path of the Bridgewater canal, so it was not possible for readers to see that the development was neither close to the canal nor overlooking it.

We welcomed Stewart Milne's assurance that the Bridgewater canal would be correctly described in future. Nevertheless, we considered the ad gave the impression, particularly to people unfamiliar with the local area, that those purchasing a property at Chorlton Fold could expect the photograph and description to reflect their immediate surroundings. Because it did not, we concluded the ad was misleading and misrepresented the location of the development.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 6.1 (Honesty) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action

The ad should not be shown again in its current form. We advised Stewart Milne to consult the CAP Copy Advice team before publishing future property ads.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)