Ad description

Text in an ad on www.wowcher.co.uk for a tooth whitening kit showed the price as "NOW £19" and beneath it the price £129 was crossed through.

Issue

A complainant challenged whether the savings claim was misleading and could be substantiated.

Response

Wowcher Ltd supplied copies of invoices from customers who had purchased the product for £129 direct from the supplier in February, April, May, June and July 2014. They also sent screenshots from April, May, June, July, August and October 2014 showing how they had verified and monitored the supplier's price before and after Wowcher's deal was launched in July 2014.

Assessment

Not upheld

We considered consumers would interpret "£129" crossed out next to a price of "£19" to mean that £129 was the usual selling price of the product and that Wowcher were offering a special price of £19. Customers would therefore benefit from a saving. We considered that the invoices and screenshots supplied by Wowcher showed that the £129 price had been charged by the merchant during the three months before and the three months after Wowcher launched their offer and that customers had purchased the product from the merchant at the £129 price before Wowcher's offer was launched. Because of that, we considered Wowcher had substantiated the savings claim and that it was not misleading.

We investigated the ad 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  3.17 3.17 Price statements must not mislead by omission, undue emphasis or distortion. They must relate to the product featured in the marketing communication.  (Prices) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.17     3.7    


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