Ad description
A national press ad for Veri-green lawn seed, was headed "Veri-green LAWN SEED VISIBLE IN JUST 6 TO 7 DAYS". Text included claims such as "Rapid establishment - visible results in 6 to 7 days".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the claim "visible results in 6 to 7 days" was misleading, because they had used the product for the stated time but had no visible results.
Response
Winning Deals said they worked with one of the world's largest seed producers of amenity grass to create a blend suitable for the UK that would germinate fast. They provided information from the manufacturers, who said that the grass seed in the product mixture was capable of visible results within seven days. The manufacturers provided us with results from a trial on a product with a similar mixture which they said showed a minimum of 90% germination within seven days at good soil temperatures and was representative of the British summer time when the seed was sown.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted the results provided by the manufacturer. However, we noted the trial they referred to was conducted on a grass species that made up only 80% of the advertised product. We also noted that because we had not seen the full study we were unable to assess their findings. Because we understood they had not conducted any trials on the formulation of the product currently being advertised by Winning Deals, we concluded that the claim had not been substantiated and the ad was misleading.
The ad breached 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 3.11 3.11 Marketing communications must not mislead consumers by exaggerating the capability or performance of a product. (Exaggeration).
Action
The ad must not appear again. We told Winning Deals not to repeat the claims or similar claims unless robust evidence could be provided to support them.
