Ad description

A TV ad for Oak Furniture Land featured two salesmen, one of whom stated, "Let's price up this living room. This sofa is £649, nest of tables £119, rustic coffee table £249, TV cabinet £299, solid oak side board £439 and this mirror is £299. What does that all come to?" The other salesman then replied, "£49" and further stated, "No deposit, three years interest free credit. Just £49 a month."

The ad included on-screen text, that stated "Delivery mainland UK only ... Subject to status ... CHOOSE FROM OVER 20 RANGES". At the end of the ad was further text that stated "Oakfurnitureland CHRISTMAS DELIVERY GUARANTEED Online Mobile In store oaklandfurniture.co.uk ORDER NOW".

Issue

The complainant, who understood that only selected items could be delivered by Christmas, challenged whether the claim "CHRISTMAS DELIVERY GUARANTEED" was misleading and could be substantiated.

Response

JB Global Ltd t/a Oak Furniture Land stated that the ad was broadcast from 3 November 2014 to 5 November 2014. They stated that all their products were available for guaranteed pre-Christmas delivery at the time the ad was broadcast. Oak Furniture Land provided a stock report for all their products during the period the ad was aired. The report indicated that the majority of their products were in stock at their warehouse facilities and the remainder, which were in the process of being delivered to their warehouses, were also available for pre-Christmas delivery while the ad was being aired.

Clearcast stated that before approving the ad for broadcast they obtained the advertiser's assurances that the pre-Christmas delivery was guaranteed during the period the ad was broadcast and that it was available on all orders that were to be delivered within mainland UK. They therefore considered that the claim "CHRISTMAS DELIVERY GUARANTEED" was acceptable and that all stock was included.

Assessment

Not upheld

We acknowledged that Oak Furniture Land's guaranteed Christmas delivery applied to all their products, and that the offer was available during the period the ad was broadcast. We noted from the stock report that Oak Furniture Land had several warehouse facilities, and that during the time the ad was broadcast the majority of their products were in stock. We also noted that out-of-stock items were in the process of being delivered to their individual warehouses and were also available in the period in which the ad was broadcast with pre-Christmas delivery guaranteed.

We considered that the stock report was sufficient evidence to demonstrate that, at the time the ad was aired, all of Oak Furniture Land's products were available for delivery before Christmas and therefore, we concluded that the claim "CHRISTMAS DELIVERY GUARANTEED" was not misleading.

We investigated the ad under BCAP Code rules  3.1 3.1 Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  and  3.2 3.2 Advertisements must not mislead consumers by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that consumers need in context to make informed decisions about whether or how to buy a product or service. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead consumers depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the advertisement is constrained by time or space, the measures that the advertiser takes to make that information available to consumers by other means.
 (Misleading Advertising),  3.9 3.9 Broadcasters must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that the audience is 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  3.10 3.10 Advertisements must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.  (Qualification), but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

BCAP Code

3.1     3.10     3.2     3.9    


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