ASA Adjudication on Plants Galore Supermarkets

Ad

Two regional press ads for a garden centre stated "Garden Plant Clearance Sale" and gave details of the various offers, such as "40% off Garden Bulbs" and "30% off Ceramic Pots". The first ad (a) stated that on garden plants and ceramic pots they were "Cheaper than Trago/B&Q/Otter". The second ad (b) stated that they were "Cheaper than anyone else!!!"

Issue

Devon Trading Standards challenged whether the "cheaper than" claims could be substantiated.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Plants Galore Supermarkets (Plants Galore) believed the complaint was unreasonable. They said they would send evidence to support their claims but did not do so.

Assessment

The ASA was concerned about Plants Galores failure to support their advertising claims and considered that, in the absence of substantiation, the claims "Cheaper than Trago/B&Q/Otter" and "Cheaper than anyone else!!!" were likely to mislead.

Ad (a) breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), 18.1 and 18.3 (Comparisons with identified competitors). Ad (b) breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 19.1 (Other comparisons).

Action

The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Plants Galore that they must hold evidence to show their products were cheaper than their competitor's products before making that claim in future marketing communications.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)