Ad description

A product listing on Amazon for a 'DoubleYI Extension Lead 4-USB Charging Port Surge Protection 10-Socket Extension Tower Power Strip with Retractable 3m/9.8Ft Power Extension Cord Lead and Switch', seen on 24 November 2017. Text on the page stated "Price: £79.99 [crossed through] Sale: £27.99 You Save: £52.00 (65%)".

Issue

The complainant, who understood that the product had never been offered by the retailer at £79.99, challenged whether the savings claims were misleading and could be substantiated.

Response

Shenzhen Bona Shiying Technology Co Ltd t/a Bona Technology Co Ltd did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.

Assessment

The ASA was concerned by Bona Technology Co Ltd’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) 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 them of their responsibility to provide a substantive response to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.

Upheld

We considered that consumers were likely to expect that the price claim “Price: £79.99” to represent the price at which the extension tower was usually sold by Bona Technology, and that the savings claim “You Save: £52.00 (£65%) to represent genuine savings against the usual selling price of the product. In the absence of any evidence to demonstrate that £79.99 was the usual selling price of the product, and that consumers would achieve genuine savings against that usual selling price, we concluded that the claims “Price: £79.99” and “You Save: £52.00 (65%)” were 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) 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 ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Bona Technology Co Ltd to ensure that their ads did not making savings claims that were likely to be understood as representing genuine savings from the usual selling price of the products, unless they held adequate evidence to substantiate those claims. We referred the matter to the CAP Compliance team.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

1.7     3.1     3.17     3.7    


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