Ad description

A website and email for Appliances Direct:

a. The website www.appliancesdirect.co.uk, seen on 26 June 2018, featured the product "Multi-split 24000 BTU Inverter Air Conditioner System with single outdoor unit and two 12000 BTU ind". Text stated "You save: £139.99. £849.98". The website also featured the product "Amcor SF8000E Portable Air Conditioner for rooms up to 18 sqm". Text stated "You save £60.00. £229.97".

b. The email, seen on 28 May 2018, also featured the "Amcor SF8000E Portable Air Conditioner" and stated "Heatwave discount: £50. Only £199".

Issue

The complainants challenged whether the savings claims in ads (a) and (b) were misleading and could be substantiated.

Response

Buy It Direct Ltd t/a Appliances Direct explained that in relation to the SF8000E unit, the £60 saving was based on their previous selling price of £299.96 from 22 June 2017. They said the product entered into an early heatwave promotion in May 2018 priced at £199.98. The £50 early heatwave discount was based on the product price being increased to and sold for £249.98 on 25 June 2018.

They said the savings claim in relation to the Multi-split 24000 BTU Inverter was based on the product's previous selling price in 2017.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA considered that consumers were likely to understand the claims in ad (a) "You save: £139.99" and "You save £60.00" to represent genuine savings. We did not consider that the ad made clear whether the savings were against the advertiser's usual selling price for those products or were in relation to the products' recommended retail prices, which we considered was the price at which those items were generally sold across the market.

We considered that consumers were likely to understand the claim in ad (b) "Heatwave discount: £50" to mean the Amcor SF8000E product was discounted by £50 compared to the advertiser's usual selling price.

We noted from the advertiser's response that the savings claims in ad (a) were intended to be in relation to their previous prices in 2017. However, we had not been provided with the pricing history for either product in the period prior to the ad's appearance in June 2018 and it was not therefore possible to assess whether those prices remained reflective of the prices at which the products were usually sold at the time the ad was seen. We had also received no evidence of the prices charged for those products by other retailers in June 2018 and could not therefore assess whether they were reflective of the prices at which they were generally sold across the market at that time.

We understood that the heatwave promotion discount of £50 for the Amcor SF8000E product in ad (b) was a saving in relation to an after-promotion price. We considered that because we had not been provided with any evidence to demonstrate that the product's price was subsequently increased by £50 after the end of the promotional period, that it was sold at that higher price and that it was advertised at the higher price for longer than the promotional period, Appliances Direct had not therefore shown that the higher price was a genuine reference price. Notwithstanding those concerns, the ad implied that the saving was a discount compared to Appliances Direct's usual selling price for the product, which was not the case.

For those reasons, we considered that the savings claims had not been substantiated and were misleading.

Ads (a) and (b) 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  3.17 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).

Action

The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Appliances Direct to ensure they only used savings claims that were based on genuine reference prices and that they held adequate substantiation for their savings claims in future. We also told them not to imply that savings were against the usual selling price of products, if that was not the case.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.17     3.7    


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