Ad description
A regional magazine ad, for a Taylor Wimpey housing development, was headed "Meadows View Harbour Lane, Warton PR4 1YB". The ad featured a photograph of Wrea Green village green. In the foreground a signpost stated "WARTON 2". Under the photo, text stated "Luxury homes in an idyllic location Meadows View is an exciting development of traditional family homes, bordering the beautiful village of Wrea Green and within easy reach of Lytham St Annes and stunning Fylde coast".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the photograph of Wrea Green village and the claim "bordering the beautiful village of Wrea Green" were misleading, because the housing development was in the village of Warton, approximately two miles away.
Response
Taylor Wimpey UK Ltd said the appeal of the local surroundings was an important factor for many people in the decision to buy a home in a particular location, which they considered encompassed the immediate surroundings such as the view from the house and the areas within easy reach of the property. They said one of the benefits of the Meadows View development likely to be of interest to homebuyers was its proximity to the "picture perfect" village of Wrea Green. They said Wrea Green neighboured Warton and was just a few minutes' drive away and within walking distance. They considered that it was legitimate to draw potential homebuyers' attention to nearby scenery and facilities, including neighbouring villages within easy reach, and pointed out that the ad also referred to "Lytham St Annes and the stunning Fylde coast", which were within easy reach of Warton but were further away than Wrea Green.
Taylor Wimpey stated that, as the ad depicted the village of Wrea Green, they were anxious to ensure that people viewing the ad were not confused into believing that the Meadows View development was actually in Wrea Green or offered views similar to the image shown. They said they therefore ensured that the header of the ad clearly included the address of the Meadows View development, which indicated, in font the same size as the main body copy, that it was situated in Warton. They said they also specifically chose an image showing prominently in the foreground a signpost on which "Warton 2" was the most prominent direction, to make it clear that the location depicted in the image was two miles from Warton. They said they also made reference to the development "bordering the beautiful village of Wrea Green" in the text because Wrea Green was the neighbouring village along a key access route, rather than the location of the development itself. They considered that, viewed in context with the text, it was clear that the image was of Wrea Green village, because the image was clearly of a village and the reference to the "beautiful village of Wrea Green" was the first and most prominent reference to a location other than Warton in the body copy of the ad.
Taylor Wimpey stated that, since a village did not have borders as such, their view was that the average person reading the ad would appreciate that the village of Wrea Green was a neighbouring village in one particular direction. They said the parish of Warton bordered the parish of Wrea Green and provided an Ordnance Survey map showing the parish boundaries. They considered that people would not assume that Meadows View was in Wrea Green because, if that were the case, they would have expected Taylor Wimpey to say so rather than use the word "bordering". They did not believe the use of the word "bordering" in this context precluded there being open fields, woodland or other countryside between the development and Wrea Green. They said that was particularly the case in the context of rural developments, where consumers would expect settlements to be more scattered than in an urban context. They considered that, if there were nothing between the development and Wrea Green, the average person would consider it not just to border Wrea Green but to be in Wrea Green. They therefore did not consider that consumers would have been misled by the use of the word "bordering".
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted the address of the property was stated at the top of the ad and considered that made clear the property development was situated in Warton. Although we noted the ad featured a picture of Wrea Green village, and not Warton, the image included a signpost stating "Warton 2" and we considered that consumers were therefore likely to understand that the image was not taken in Warton but a village or town two miles away. We considered it was reasonable for Taylor Wimpey to use an image from local surroundings to advertise the development so long as the ad made clear the location to which the image related. We considered it was clear the image featured a location two miles from Warton, but noted it was not clear that the image was of Wrea Green village.
We noted that text in the main copy of the ad stated "Meadows View is an exciting development of traditional family homes, bordering the beautiful village of Wrea Green" and considered that gave the impression, particularly to people unfamiliar with the local area, that Wrea Green was in the immediate surroundings of the development. Because we understood that Wrea Green was in fact around two miles away from Warton and the development, we considered that the claim exaggerated the proximity of Wrea Green and misrepresented the location of the development. We therefore concluded that the claim "bordering the beautiful village of Wrea Green" was likely to mislead.
The ad breached the 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).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Taylor Wimpey UK Ltd to ensure that future ads did not misrepresent the location of properties.
