Ad description
The website www.kgbdeals.co.uk offered a child's racing car bed for sale. Text stated "£99 for a silver Meeki Kids racing Car Bed worth £225 from Heartlands Furniture - save 56% and make dreams come true!"
Issue
A complainant challenged whether the claim "worth £225" was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
kgb (UK) (kgb) said the claim was based on the recommended retail price on the merchant's website, on whose behalf they advertised the product. They supplied a link to the merchant's website. kgb said their understanding was that the merchant did not sell direct to consumers and that they were therefore unable to confirm that they had sold it at the £225 price.
kgb also supplied a screenshot from Amazon.co.uk which showed the same product as having a previous price of £299.
kgb said they considered their ad provided consumers with an opportunity to purchase the product at a price that was significantly less expensive than was generally available.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted that the ad stated that the bed was "worth £225," and considered consumers would therefore expect that the product was usually sold at that price. We noted kgb understood it was not possible to purchase the bed direct from the merchant and that the previous price of £299 shown on the Amazon screenshot was in fact crossed through and replaced by a selling price of £135. We considered that kgb had not, therefore, demonstrated that the product was usually sold for £225. Because of that, we concluded that the claim 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), 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) and 3.17 3.17 Price statements must not mislead by omission, undue emphasis or distortion. They must relate to the product featured in the marketing communication. (Prices).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told kgb to ensure they held robust evidence to support savings claims when advertising offers.
