Ad description
A TV ad for Granite Transformations featured a voice-over that stated, "Ah, the kitchen is my favourite room in the home. So I'm glad my family called Granite Transformations. In about two shakes of a tail they installed granite that fit right over the old tops. They're heat, scratch and stain resistant and maintenance free."
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the reference to "granite" in the ad was misleading because they understood that the work tops were not solid granite but made from a polymer mix.
Response
Granite Transformations UK Ltd (GTUK) said the work surfaces were made using granite chips held together by a polymer resin. They said the mix was rolled onto a mesh and when set the sheet was cut and polished just as one would a conventional 'slab' of solid granite. This sheet was approximately 97% granite, with the remainder being made up of the polymer binder and a backing sheet.
GTUK said they did not claim in the TV ad, or in any of their marketing, that that the sheets were 'solid' granite. Neither did they refer to the sheets as 'slabs' of granite, which they said might misleadingly imply that the sheets were cut from rock as a single piece.
Because the overwhelming make-up of what was being installed was granite and the ad did not exaggerate this, GTUK did not believe that the ad was misleading.
Clearcast said the work surfaces were 97% granite, which was crushed and held together by polymer, then rolled out and set. They said the ad was not claiming that the product was solid granite, even though 97% was a very high amount, therefore they did not believe that the ad was misleading.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA noted that the product shown in the ad was not solid granite. However, the ad did not claim that the product was 100% granite. We considered that 97% was a very high proportion and that it would be clear from the nature of a product, i.e. one that fits over existing work surfaces, and from the close-up shots of the product, that it was a granite mix. For these reasons we concluded that the ad was not likely to mislead viewers.
We investigated the ad under BCAP Code rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. and 3.2 3.2 Obvious exaggerations ("puffery") and claims that the average consumer who sees the marketing communication is unlikely to take literally are allowed provided they do not materially mislead. (Misleading advertising) but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
