Ad description
A TV ad for a car stated "There's something new on the road, MG6, the first all-new MG for 16 years. Designed and engineered in Britain".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the claim "Designed and engineered in Britain" was misleading because it implied that the car was manufactured in Britain, whereas he understood that only the final assembly was done in Britain, with the majority of the manufacturing process taking place in China.
Response
MG Motors UK Ltd (MG) did not believe that the ad made any claim whatsoever about the manufacturing or building of the car. They said the car was designed from a clean sheet of paper and engineered in the UK by their UK engineering team, now based in Birmingham.
Clearcast said they understood that the engines and body work of the car were made in China and final assembly was carried out in Longbridge, Birmingham. They said that the Longbridge facility also housed the design and engineering headquarters of the MG Motors. They said the manufacturing in China was done to the design and engineering specifications from the Longbridge facility. Because the component parts that were manufactured in China and assembled in Longbridge were also designed and engineered in Longbridge to begin with, Clearcast believed that the ad was not misleading.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA noted that the manufacturing that took place in MG's plant in China was done to the specifications set by their design and engineering team based in Birmingham. We also noted that the complainant believed that the word "engineered" in the ad would not be understood to mean "designed", since this had already been stated, and therefore believed “engineered”, in this treatment, implied “manufactured”.
We acknowledged that “engineered” could be understood to mean “designed”, but we did not consider that the average consumer would infer from the claim “designed and engineered in Britain” that the car was built in Britain. We considered that there was a difference between engineering and designing and that engineering could relate to the more technical aspects involved in designing a car. Because we considered that the ad did not imply the car was manufactured in Britain, we concluded that the claim did not mislead.
We investigated the ad under BCAP Code rules
3.1
3.1
Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.2
3.2
Advertisements must not mislead consumers by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that consumers need in context to make informed decisions about whether or how to buy a product or service. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead consumers depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the advertisement is constrained by time or space, the measures that the advertiser takes to make that information available to consumers by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
3.9
3.9
Broadcasters must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that the audience is likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
(Substantiation) but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
