Ad description
A website for Zara, www.zara.com/uk, seen on 22 June 2017 featured a bag described as in a “SALE” at £15.99, with a price of £19.99 crossed out.
Issue
The complainant, who believed that the bag was available on the website at £15.99 prior to the sale, challenged whether the crossed out price of £19.99 was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Zara said the bag first appeared on www.zara.com/uk at the full price of £19.99 during February 2017, and that 359 units were sold at full price between 24 February 2017 and 22 June 2017.
They said the product was then reduced to £15.99 on the evening of 22 June 2017 during the summer sale on the website, and 45 units were sold at the discounted price between 22 June 2017 and 27 July 2017. They provided documentary evidence of sales data to demonstrate the time periods during which the product was sold at both the full price and the discounted price.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA considered that consumers were likely to understand the claim of a “SALE” price at £15.99 to represent a genuine saving against the usual selling price of the product at the time the ad appeared.
The documentary evidence provided by Zara demonstrated that the product first appeared on the website at the discounted price on 22 June 2017. The evidence also supported that the bag was sold at full price between 24 February 2017 and 22 June 2017, and at the discounted price from the evening of 22 June 2017 until 27 June 2017.
The ASA considered that the “was” price claim in the ad was substantiated by the evidence provided by Zara, and we were also satisfied that the product first appeared at the discounted price on the website on 22 June 2017. Additionally, given that the bag was advertised on the website at the full price for significantly longer than at the discounted price, we considered that the “sale” price was a genuine discount for consumers in comparison to the full price.
Therefore, we concluded that the ad was not misleading as the bag was first sold at the discounted price on 22 June 2017, and the price of bag in the “sale” represented a genuine saving in comparison to the full price prior to the sale.
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 needed.
