ASA Adjudications

Tesco Stores Ltd
Tesco House
Delamare Road
Cheshunt
EN8 9SL
Number of complaints: 1
Date:14 May 2008
Media:Television, National press
Sector:Retail

Ad
A TV and national press ad for Tesco.

a. The TV ad was broadcast between 26 and 29 December.  It opened with the image of a TV with the text "SONY BRAVIA Model 40P3020" superimposed onto the screen.  A price flash in the corner of the TV showed that the price was reduced from £899 to £599.  On-screen text stated "Selected stores".  The voice-over stated "The Tesco Sale featuring a 40-inch Sony Bravia TV.  Ideal if your current one's seen its last Christmas".  On-screen text stated "While stocks last".

b. The national press ad was published on 24 December.  It showed a photograph of a Sony Bravia TV; text beneath the photograph stated "Sony Bravia KDL40P302OU 40" LCDTV [was] £899  [now] £599".  Further text stated "Open Boxing Day  Tesco.  We're opening 57 stores on Boxing day.  Not only that.  You can get a Sony Bravia 40" for £599.  Amazing.  A TV that gets you off the sofa".  Text in smaller print listed the 57 stores that were open on Boxing Day.  Small print text at the foot of the ad stated "While stocks last.  Selected UK stores.  Opening hours ... Previous price charged on-line.  Was £899 now £599".      
Issue
DSG Retail Limited (DSG) challenged whether:

1.  there was adequate stock to meet demand as they understood supplies were exhausted on 26 December; and

2.  ad (b) was misleading, because it did not make sufficiently clear that stocks were limited.



The CAP Code: 7.1;16.1;30.1;30.2
BCAP TV Advertising Code: 5.1;5.2.3

Response
1.  Tesco explained that the Bravia TV promotion began on Boxing Day, 26 December and was due to run until 29 December.  They said the Bravia offer was the first time that they had promoted such a significant discount on a 'big brand' television, but they had estimated demand based on previous, similar promotions and secured enough stock to more than adequately satisfy that demand.  They said stock was distributed across 366 of their largest stores, which included Tesco Extra, Homeplus and some superstores.  

Tesco said, on Boxing Day, 57 of their stores were open and all of those stores held stock of the Bravia television.  They acknowledged that on that day stock sales were higher than anticipated and, at the close of business, two of those stores had sold out, but pointed out that the remaining 55 continued to have stock available.  They believed, on 27 December, when all of the 366 participating stores re-opened, there was still ample stock available to cover demand across the remaining 364 stores.  However, following the unexpected high demand generated on Boxing Day, they said they monitored sales closely and, following a stock update at midday on 27 December, they became aware of continuing high sales and took action to withdraw the ad from broadcast to try to suppress demand.  They pointed out, however, that despite the high sales, at no point did the item completely sell out; on 28 December, over 24 hours after the majority of TV channels had ceased to broadcast the ad, 341 stores continued to carry stock.  

Tesco sent documentation to the ASA to demonstrate the distribution of the Bravia TV on offer and the daily rate of sale across all participating stores.  

Clearcast explained that they had received an assurance from Tesco prior to the ad's broadcast that they held sufficient stock to satisfy the anticipated demand likely to be generated by it.  They pointed out that, as a precaution, the disclaimer "While stocks last" was included.  Clearcast also explained that it was the advertisers' responsibility to monitor stock levels, with respect to their advertising claims, and to take action to stop the broadcast of any ad affected by stock availability, which they understood Tesco had.

2.  Tesco confirmed that the national press ad was published on 24 December.  They explained that, although the Bravia TV offer was a 'while stocks last' promotion, they did not expect to sell out for some weeks after the ad appeared.  In the circumstances, they did not believe stock was so limited to warrant the inclusion of warning text such as "hurry while stocks last" or similar.  In addition, they said all of the 57 stores that opened on Boxing Day carried stock to cover the offer.  They sent documentation to the ASA to show that, as late as 10 January 2008, a small number of Bravia TVs were still available across 110 stores.        
Assessment
1. & 2.  Not upheld
The ASA understood that the complainants were concerned because they believed stock supplies had been exhausted early into ad (a)'s broadcast schedule and ad (b) did not clarify that stocks were extremely limited.  We also understood that they had contacted several large Tesco stores, but had been unable to locate any stock.

While we appreciated their concern we noted, from the evidence submitted by Tesco, the Bravia TV had been available initially in 366 stores and 294 stores still held stock of the product at the close of business on 29 December, the last date that ad (a) was scheduled for broadcast.  We also noted all of the 57 stores listed in ad (b) had carried stock to cover the offer on Boxing Day, which was the message we considered readers would infer from that ad; only two of those stores sold out of the product on that day and the majority of the total stores that participated in the offer did not exhaust their stock for some time into January 2008.  We noted small print text in ad (b) stated "While stocks last" and understood that the complainants considered this was not sufficiently clear.  We concluded, however, that, because the ad's message related to availability on Boxing Day and only two of the 57 stores ran out of stock on that day, the qualification was adequate.

We noted the number of stores that participated in the offer, 366, represented approximately two-thirds of the larger format, Tesco Superstore, Extra and Homeplus stores. We considered that viewers would understand that the promotion was available only in larger stores and would not expect to find the TV in smaller Tesco branches, Express and Metro. We, therefore, considered that on-screen text in ad (a) was sufficient to clarify that the offer was available in selected stores only. In addition, we noted no consumer complaints were received, which we might have expected if a problem with distribution and availability had arisen following a nationwide promotion.

On these points, we investigated the ads under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.3 (Qualifications) and CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness), 16.1 (Availability of products), 30.1 and 30.2 (Sales promotion rules - availability) but did not find them in breach.
Action
No action required.


Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)

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