Ad description
A teleshopping presentation on Bid TV for an 18-piece Viners cutlery set. The presenter stated, "Take a look at Viners. This is British tradition, craftsmanship at its finest. What we're about to show you is an 18-piece divine cutlery set ... It is not only the very heart of the Sheffield makers ... The heart of Sheffield, one of the most famous and one of the great cities in the world. What they've done, Viners have created the ambition of quality and design since 1901 ... To have quality cutlery in that drawer from the very heart of Sheffield ... it's Viners ... A quality set and I love it because it's British, it's Sheffield, it's Viners, it's quality".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the presentation was misleading because they believed it implied the product was made in Sheffield when they understood that was not the case.
Response
sit-up Ltd t/a Bid TV said that, having reviewed the footage, the complainant was incorrect because the presenter had not stated that the product was "made in Sheffield". They said the presenter was acknowledging that Viners was a British company that had a strong and deep British tradition, based in Sheffield. They said during the broadcast, the presenter reinforced the confidence and assurance that customers received when they bought the product and that they would be buying into all that the manufacturer stood for, that is, a British and Sheffield brand with a manufacturing tradition.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA understood that Viners cutlery was not manufactured in the UK. We acknowledged sit-up's assertion that the presenter had not explicitly said that the product was made in Sheffield. However, whilst the presenter made several references that may have been interpreted as relating to the company's Sheffield heritage, we considered that statements such as "quality cutlery … from the very heart of Sheffield" and "it's British, it's Sheffield" were likely to give the impression that the cutlery was manufactured there. Because that was not the case, we concluded the ad was misleading.
The ad breached BCAP Code rules
3.1
3.1
Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
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.
(Misleading advertising) and
3.9
3.9
Broadcasters must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that the audience is 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).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told sit-up Ltd to ensure claims of place of manufacture did not mislead in future.
