Ad description
An online ad on a furniture website, www.oakfurnituresolutions.co.uk, stated, "HUGE SUMMER SALE NOW ON. EVERYTHING 50% OFF OR MORE! EXTRA 10% OFF SELECTED ITEMS". The ad also contained a box with a countdown timer and the text, "Our Sale Ends Soon!"
Issue
The complainant, who believed that the timer reset when it reached zero, challenged whether the ad was misleading.
Response
Contemporary Oak Furniture Ltd (COF) stated that the countdown timer did not reset when it reached zero. But they confirmed that they normally started a new promotion the day after a promotion ended. They always had a link for more info within the countdown timer image so that consumers could see the details of the current promotion.
COF said that the "10% off" promotion started on 11 September and finished on 13 September. Similar “10% off” promotions had run previous to this, but had involved different products, based on the stock that COF had at the time. COF explained that the promotions were based on the products they had in stock, therefore they would change over time.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted the complainant had seen the ad on a particular day with less than 24 hours left on the timer, and on the following day had seen the same ad with more time added. We had also seen such an increase to the countdown timer's time as it approached zero. On both instances, the ad referred to there being 50% or more off "everything".
We noted COF asserted that the 10% discount on selected items, when appearing in consecutive ads, related to different product sets. However, the main promotional claim, offering a discount of at least 50% off everything, appeared to relate to the entire product base. We therefore requested sales information detailing the products included in the promotion, and showing when they had been sold at the higher price, in order to ascertain that the promotion was not misleading. COF provided a spreadsheet showing stock levels in the days leading up to 13 September, but it did not show any pricing or sales information.
In the absence of suitable documentary evidence we considered COF had failed to demonstrate that the promotion had not misleadingly exaggerated the time-limited nature of the promotion. We therefore concluded that the ad had breached the Code.
Investigated under 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 3.31 3.31 Marketing communications must not falsely claim that the marketer is about to cease trading or move premises. They must not falsely state that a product, or the terms on which it is offered, will be available only for a very limited time to deprive consumers of the time or opportunity to make an informed choice. (Availability).
Action
We told COF to remove the ad and to ensure that in future they held evidence that promotions complied with the Code.
