ASA Adjudication on CSL

Ad

A TV ad for a furniture store showed a number of different sofas; each was labelled with a price that had been crossed out and the new price, which was approximately half of the original price. A voice-over stated "The sale is now on at CSL, the sofa specialists …". The ad ended with a shot that showed the CSL logo, which had text below that stated "Sale - Now On".

Issue

Two viewers complained that the ad misleadingly implied that the products had been discounted in a sale, whereas having visited CSL stores they had been advised that there was no sale.

BCAP TV Code

Response

CSL said that all the sofas in the ad had been reduced by up to 50% and had been on sale at the previous price for at least 28 consecutive days in the six months before the promotion; in total more than 20% of their stock carried sale reductions of 50%.  They sent a screen grab, which showed the sofas that were on sale and said each of their stores carried all of those lines. There had been no attempt to mislead, however, promotional materials in-store for their lowest price guarantee might have been more prominent than those for the advertised sale.  Any misunderstanding as the result of mixed messages sent by sales staff, or by promotional materials in-store, was unintentional and would not be repeated.

Clearcast said they had sought confirmation of the reductions and the prices at which the sale sofas had previously been sold.  They said the lowest price guarantee was promoted in relation to other sofas in-store and it is possible that the availability of that guarantee, which was separate from the sale offer, was the cause of any misunderstanding.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted the sofas featured in the ad, as well as other lines, were included in the sale and were available in all stores.  We were concerned that two viewers seemed to have been misinformed at two separate stores.  However, we considered that the screen grab demonstrated that there was a sale, in which sofas were reduced by up to 50%, as advertised.  We concluded that the ad was not misleading.

We investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 and 5.1.2 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence) and 5.2.2 (Implications) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)