Ad description
An ad for a Petrol Pressure Washer 2830 PSI was seen on the ParkerBrand website www.parkerbrand.co.uk, on 23 February 2026. It included photos and a description of the product. Text stated “IN STOCK WAS £399.98 [strike through “£399.98”]” and “50% OFF NOW £199.99 inc. VAT” alongside a button with the label “BUY NOW”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the price claim “WAS £399.98” was misleading, because they understood that the product had repeatedly been sold at much lower prices.
Response
Parker Products Ltd t/a ParkerBrand did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by Parker Products Ltd’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
The ad stated “WAS £399.98 50% OFF NOW £199.99”. We considered that consumers would understand from the price claim that the usual selling price of the product was £399.98 and therefore that a genuine saving of £199.99 could be made. The ASA had received no evidence from Parker Products to demonstrate that the higher price stated was the usual selling price. We therefore concluded that the savings claim had not been substantiated and was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation), 3.17 (Prices) and 3.39 (Price Comparisons).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Parker Products Ltd t/a ParkerBrand to ensure their future savings claims did not mislead and were substantiated against the usual selling price of their products. We told them not to state savings against previous prices unless it could be evidenced that the product was generally sold at that price. We referred the matter to CAP's Compliance team.
