Ad description
A sales promotion on www.kgbdeals.co.uk, visited on 24 October 2011, promoted a sale on a duffle coat. Text stated "Original Montgomery Duffle Coat £111 Value £265 discount 58% ... £111 for a cozy men's or women's Original Montgomery Duffle Coat worth £265 from Montgomery Outdoor Ltd - save 58% and stay warm this winter!".
Issue
A complainant challenged whether the claim "save 58%" was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
kgb (UK) Ltd (kgb) said they understood that £265 was the standard price advertised by Montgomery Outdoor Ltd (Montgomery) for its men's and women's classic duffle coats on www.originalmontgomery.com. They said Montgomery had advised kgb that the £265 price was listed on its website for over 28 days, and they therefore considered that the promotion complied with the requirements of the Department for Business Innovation and Skill Pricing Practices Guide, and was not misleading.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted that £265 was the standard price on the www.originalmontgomery.com website. However, we understood that Montgomery also owned the website www.dufflecoatsuk.co.uk website, where Montgomery duffle coats were sold at £149.99, because the wholesale margin was removed. We therefore concluded that because the coat could be obtained from Montgomery through their www.dufflecoatsuk.co.uk website for £149.99 not £265, the claim "save 58%" had not been substantiated and was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are 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).
Action
The ad must not appear in its current form again.
