Ad description
A website ad and a point of sale promotion for Moss Bros:
a. The website www.moss.co.uk, seen on 21 August 2017, and
b. The point of sale promotion, seen on 24 August 2017, both showed a model wearing a three piece suit. Text in both stated "Suit plus extra trouser & 2 shirts £139".
Issue
The complainant, who attempted to take up the offer but was told that the suits shown were not included in the offer, challenged whether the ads were misleading.
Response
Moss Bros Group plc said the offer was available on a two-piece suit only. They said the image of a model wearing a three-piece suit used in the ad was taken from a more general campaign. They said the image was used for consistency and was not intended to be taken literally. However, in hindsight they acknowledged that the offer could have been presented more clearly to consumers and would be mindful of that in future.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA considered consumers were likely to interpret the ads to mean that they could purchase the suit shown, a second pair of trousers and two shirts for a total of £139. However, we noted Moss Bros' explanation that three-piece suits were not available in the offer.
We welcomed Moss Bros' intention to present offers clearly to consumers in future. Because we considered consumers would interpret the ads to mean that the suit shown was included in the offer, but this was not the case, we concluded that the ads were likely to mislead.
The ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising).
Action
The ads must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Moss Bros to ensure that ads for future promotions did not mislead consumers by, for example, claiming or suggesting that products were included in the offer when that was not the case.
