Ad description
A TV and two Radio ads for The Trade Centre Wales Ltd:
a. A TV ad seen on 23 August featured on-screen text which stated “Drive Away In 1 Hour With Just A £99 Deposit …Cardiff North-Neath-Merthyr”.
b. A radio ad, heard on 14 September on Heart FM, stated, “At The Trade Centre Wales we’ve over 2,000 cars in stock and you can drive away in an hour. Visit us at Neath, Merthyr and Cardiff North on the A470”.
c. A radio ad, heard on 20 October on Capital FM, stated, “Everyone knows … at Trade Centre Wales you can drive away in just one hour! And right now, you can get a twenty fifteen *Vauxhall Corsa OR a twenty fifteen Renault Clio … for just three nine nine nine … or ninety nine pounds deposit … and ONLY twenty pounds a week! Everyone knows … that’s why everyone goes … to Trade Centre Wales … at Neath, Merthyr and Cardiff North”.
Issue
Three complainants challenged whether claims that The Trade Centre Wales were located in “Cardiff North” was misleading as they understood they had an office in Abercynon, which was over ten miles north of Cardiff.
Response
The Trade Centre Wales Ltd stated that The Trade Centre Wales - Cardiff North was the trading name of their business situated north of Cardiff in Abercynon. They explained that it was located within the Cardiff postcode of CF45 4XA and was situated on the A470 which ran directly from Cardiff city centre.
They stated that the branch was visited by over 800 car shoppers from across the south-west of the UK each week and that a large number of their customers travelled to the Cardiff North branch from areas such as Bristol, Gloucester, Hereford, Monmouthshire and Newport. They stated that if they were to rebrand the business the location would not be immediately apparent to the customers visiting from those areas.
Clearcast stated that Cardiff North was the name of the branch and the wording was not designed to communicate a direct geographical location of North Cardiff. They accepted the name as a branch name at the time of clearance and did not request substantiation on the exact location.
Radiocentre had no further comments to add.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA considered that, in the context of a car dealership, consumers, including those who were not from the Cardiff area, would understand the name “Cardiff North” from the ads to mean that the branch was geographically situated in the north of the Cardiff area, and was likely to be easily accessible from nearby areas.
We acknowledged that Cardiff North was the trading name of the branch which had a Cardiff postcode. As well as being situated around 16 miles from Cardiff city centre, we understood that there was a direct main road from the city centre to the branch which took around 30 minutes to travel by car. We also noted that ad (b) stated “Cardiff North on the A470”.
We therefore concluded that the branch name “Cardiff North” was not misleading.
We considered the ads under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (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. (Qualification), but did not find them to be in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
