ASA Adjudication on Kenwood Ltd
Kenwood Ltd
1 Kenwood Business Park
New Lane
Havant
PO9 2NH
Date:
6 April 2011
Media:
Television
Sector:
Household
Number of complaints:
1
Agency:
Idealogy Group Ltd
Complaint Ref:
144616
Ad
A TV ad, for a hand-held blender, showed various shots of a woman using the product.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied the blender was cordless.
BCAP Code
Response
Kenwood said the ad did not claim the product was cordless and there was no attempt to imply that it was. They said the purpose of the ad was to demonstrate that the product was faster, easier and cleaner than a two-blade alternative. They said that while the cord was taped to the actresss arm in some of the shots, it was clearly visible in some shots, particularly in a shot approximately 12 seconds into the advert. They therefore believed the ad was not misleading.
Clearcast said neither the voice-over nor on-screen text in the ad claimed the product was cordless. They said there were occasions when the cord could not be seen, because there had been some attempt to present the product artfully, however that did not directly imply there was no cord at all. They said the cord was clearly visible in several shots, most notably in an overhead shot where the blender was seen being put into a saucepan of soup. Clearcast agreed with Kenwood that the ad was not misleading and believed it also did not exaggerate the capabilities of the product.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted the ad did not state that the product was cordless and that the cord was visible in one of the shots. We also noted, however, the cord was not visible during most of the ad and that it was apparent only upon close examination of the scene in which it did appear. We therefore considered consumers were likely to understand the product to be cordless. Because that was not the case, we concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached BCAP Code rules 3.1 and 3.2 (Misleading advertising) and 3.12 (Exaggeration).
Action
The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form. We told Kenwood to ensure future ads did not misleadingly exaggerate the capability or performance of a product.
Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)
