Ad description
An ad for "Brio Pull Along Duck" on www.ACHICA.com stated "£11.50 ACHICA / £18.99 RRP".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the stated recommended retail price (RRP) of £18.99 was misleading and could be substantiated, because they believed it was not the price at which the product was generally sold.
Response
ACHICA did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by ACHICA's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code rule 1.7 1.7 Any unreasonable delay in responding to the ASA's enquiries will normally be considered a breach of the Code. (Unreasonable delay). We reminded ACHICA of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told him to do so in the future.
We understood from the complainant that the product was for sale in major retailers for £9.97 and £14.99. We were concerned that ACHICA did not provide us with evidence to show that the recommended retail price stated was the price at which the product was generally sold. We therefore concluded that 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), 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) and 3.40 3.40 Price comparisons must not mislead by falsely claiming a price advantage. Comparisons with a recommended retail prices (RRPs) are likely to mislead if the RRP differs significantly from the price at which the product or service is generally sold. (Price comparisons).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told ACHICA to ensure RRPs reflected the price at which a product was generally sold in future. We referred the matter to CAP's Compliance team.
