Ad description

The website www.caviarclassic-london.com stated "Amur Beluga Caviar … this is a hybrid of the Acipenser Schrenkii [sic] combined with the Huso Dauricus Sturgeon [sic].  Two of the best Sturgeon [sic] in the world …".

Issue

The complainant, who understood that Beluga Caviar came only from the Huso huso sturgeon, challenged whether the product name was misleading and could be substantiated.

Response

Caviar Classic London Ltd said they used the name Amur Beluga because one of the species, Huso dauricus/Kaluga came from the Huso family of sturgeon and the Acipenser schrenkii species was also known as the Amur sturgeon.  They said that because the roe came from a hybrid of the two fish species they had used the combination of their names, Amur and Beluga as the product name.  They said that they made the nature of the product clear, and that it was a hybrid of two species of sturgeon, in several places on their website.  They said they had not stated that the product was pure Beluga.

Caviar Classic said that the name had been passed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which was a necessary approval process for caviar, and a label to that effect featured on the product itself.  They quoted various statements from international organisations in relation to the labelling of caviar.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA understood that pure beluga caviar was a high-end, premium priced product which was sourced only from the Huso huso sturgeon and that Caviar Classic's product contained no roe from that species of fish.  We considered that consumers interested in purchasing beluga caviar would expect the product to contain roe only from that species of sturgeon.  In addition, we considered that consumers who did not have specialist knowledge of the origin and content of beluga caviar would be likely to understand from the name that the caviar was beluga caviar.  We acknowledged Caviar Classic's assertion that the product name had been passed by CITES, however, we understood that that organisation applied labelling criteria for the source and origin of products, not the name of a product.

We acknowledged that the product description highlighted that the product consisted of roe from a hybrid of two sturgeon species.  We considered that although this clarified the product contents, because it did not contain beluga caviar, the information in the ad was ambiguous and the description contradicted the impression given by the product name.  We therefore concluded the ad 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.  and  3.3 3.3 Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer 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 the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
 (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  3.9 3.9 Marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.  (Qualification).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.  We told Caviar Classic London Ltd to ensure their products were appropriately named.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.3     3.7     3.9    


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