Ad description
Four TV ads for Oak Furniture Land, advertising sales events, seen on 9 February 2018:
a. The first TV ad featured text which stated "Savings end 11/02/18". A voice-over stated, "Don't miss extra savings at Oak Furniture Land's big weekend sale, save £230 on this St Ives side board, only £359. Hurry to a store near you: Must end Sunday."
b. The second TV ad featured a voice-over which stated, "Don't miss Oak Furniture Land's winter sale, this sophisticated Dorset dining set is now only £699. This shabby chic St Ives wardrobe is now just £549. And the elegant, original rustic chest of drawers is now only £379. Winter sale now on: In a store near you."
c. The third TV ad featured text which stated "Sale ends 11/02/18". A voice-over stated, "Don't miss extra savings in Oak Furniture Land's big weekend sale where you can furnish every room of 100% solid, hard wood. Save £170 on this original rustic double bed, now £399. And save over £130 on the modern-alto TV cabinet, now just £299. Hurry to a store near you - must end Sunday."
d. The fourth TV ad featured text which stated "Savings end 11/02/18". A voice-over stated, "Don't miss extra savings in Oak Furniture Land's big weekend Sale, where you can furnish every room with 100% solid, hardwood. Save £200 on this modern Tokyo chest of drawers, now £299. And save £230 on this contemporary St Ive's sideboard, now just £359. Hurry to a store near you. Must end Sunday."
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the closing dates in the ads were misleading.
Response
JB Global Ltd t/a Oak Furniture Land stated that ads (a), (c) and (d) promoted their Big Weekend Extra Savings, which ran over the weekend of 10 and 11 February 2018, and took place during their Winter Sale which was promoted in ad (b). They provided a pricing history of each of the items within those ads to demonstrate that they were sold at a higher price before the sales event, and reverted to a higher price afterwards.
Clearcast stated that the Winter Sale advertised in ad (b) ran from 22 December 2017 to 4 March 2018 and featured different products to the Big Weekend Extra Savings sale. They stated that they did not require an end date when sales events were due to end a significant period of time after the last air date of an ad and they were confident that each of the sales prices and overall sales events advertised were genuine.
Assessment
Upheld (in relation to ad (b) only)
The ASA acknowledged that ads (a), (c) and (d) each referred to a weekend sale and each included an end date of 11 February 2018 and a voice-over which stated, “Must end Sunday”. We considered that consumers would interpret each of the ads as a promotion for items the prices for which had been reduced that weekend, and which would increase in price once the sales event had concluded.
Ad (b) was seen on the same day as ads (a), (c) and (d), but it promoted items within the Winter Sale, which ended just over three weeks after the ad was seen. We considered that the omission of the closing date in ad (b) meant consumers were not provided with the information required to determine how quickly they had to act to take part in the sales event. We considered they would therefore believe that they had to act more quickly than they needed to in order to participate in the sale.
In light of the above, we considered that ads (a), (c) and (d) gave sufficient information as to the timeframe within which consumers could benefit from the offers before the sales event closed, but that ad (b) did not. We therefore concluded that ad (b) was likely to mislead.
Ad (b) breached BCAP Code rules
3.1
3.1
The standards objectives, insofar as they relate to advertising, include:
a) that persons under the age of 18 are protected;
b) that material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder is not included in television and radio services;
c) that the proper degree of responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes;
d) that generally accepted standards are applied to the contents of television and radio services so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from inclusion in such services of offensive and harmful material;
e) that the inclusion of advertising which may be misleading, harmful or offensive in television and radio services is prevented;
f) that the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to advertising included in television and radio services are complied with [in particular in respect of television those obligations set out in Articles 3b, 3e,10, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 22 of Directive 89/552/EEC (the Audi Visual Media Services Directive)];
g) that there is no use of techniques which exploit the possibility of conveying a message to viewers or listeners, or of otherwise influencing their minds, without their being aware, or fully aware, of what has occurred"
Section 319(2).
3.2
3.2
Advertisements must not mislead consumers 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 consumers need in context to make informed decisions about whether or how to buy a product or service. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead consumers depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the advertisement is constrained by time or space, the measures that the advertiser takes to make that information available to consumers by other means.
and
3.31
3.31
Advertisements must not falsely claim that the advertiser is about to stop trading or move premises. They must not falsely state that a product or service, 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.
(Misleading advertising).
We investigated ads (a), (c) and (d) under BCAP Code rules
3.1
3.1
The standards objectives, insofar as they relate to advertising, include:
a) that persons under the age of 18 are protected;
b) that material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder is not included in television and radio services;
c) that the proper degree of responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes;
d) that generally accepted standards are applied to the contents of television and radio services so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from inclusion in such services of offensive and harmful material;
e) that the inclusion of advertising which may be misleading, harmful or offensive in television and radio services is prevented;
f) that the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to advertising included in television and radio services are complied with [in particular in respect of television those obligations set out in Articles 3b, 3e,10, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 22 of Directive 89/552/EEC (the Audi Visual Media Services Directive)];
g) that there is no use of techniques which exploit the possibility of conveying a message to viewers or listeners, or of otherwise influencing their minds, without their being aware, or fully aware, of what has occurred"
Section 319(2).
3.2
3.2
Advertisements must not mislead consumers 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 consumers need in context to make informed decisions about whether or how to buy a product or service. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead consumers depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the advertisement is constrained by time or space, the measures that the advertiser takes to make that information available to consumers by other means.
and
3.31
3.31
Advertisements must not falsely claim that the advertiser is about to stop trading or move premises. They must not falsely state that a product or service, 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.
(Misleading advertising), but did not find them in breach.
Action
Ad (b) must not appear again in its current form. We told JB Global Ltd to ensure that their future advertising did not mislead consumers by omitting material information, such as the closing date, that would impact their decision on whether or how to buy a product.
