Supermarket’s ‘cheapest Christmas dinner’ advert ruled misleading

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A nationwide press advert for Aldi claiming the discounter was the “home of Britain’s cheapest Christmas dinner” misled customers, a watchdog has ruled.

The four-page wrap-around newspaper advert, printed on December 6, additionally said: “Sainsbury’s £44.81”, “Aldi £33.80” and “Swap & Save over 20% on your Christmas dinner”, and added: “According to results published by Which?, Aldi’s Christmas dinner came in at over 20% cheaper than Sainsbury’s”.

Small textual content on the backside of the advert said that the comparability associated to “seven UK supermarkets”.

Sainsbury’s complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the advert was misleading, and the value comparability was not consultant of costs in the course of the interval when customers can be buying recent produce for his or her Christmas dinner – often within the final week or so earlier than Christmas Day.

Aldi mentioned the claims within the advert had been from a comparability by Which? detailed in an article on the buyer group’s web site, titled: “Which is the cheapest supermarket for Christmas dinner ingredients”.

Aldi acknowledged that Which? had discovered that the value distinction between Aldi and the second-cheapest grocery store, Lidl, was 4p, and so had additionally given Lidl a “Budget-friendly Christmas Dinner” award.

Which? advised the ASA that they not concerned in how Aldi offered the report of their promoting.

The group mentioned it used weight “ranges” in all their grocery pricing evaluation as there tended to be little consistency within the weight of own-label groceries throughout supermarkets, however these tended to be small, and Which? made certain to overview and sense test them.

The ASA mentioned customers would perceive from the advert that the overall value of shopping for the substances at Aldi for a typical Christmas dinner can be cheaper than in some other British grocery store, so there can be no cause to buy round.

It mentioned customers would additionally perceive that the value comparability was primarily based on Which? analysis, and that Which? had given Aldi a “cheapest Christmas dinner” award.

Furthermore, it mentioned the advert’s textual content that the general comparability associated to seven UK supermarkets, and never all of them, was “so small that many readers would overlook it”.

The ASA additionally famous that the Which? article said that the Christmas dinner was solely 4p cheaper at Aldi in contrast with Lidl, and that “as this difference was negligible, Which? decided to embrace the Christmas spirit by giving both of the discounters a festive food-pricing crown”.

The ASA mentioned: “Which? therefore had not awarded Aldi as the ‘cheapest Christmas dinner’ as implied by the overall presentation of the ad, but as a ‘budget-friendly Christmas Dinner’.

“While Aldi was technically the cheapest, this was by a negligible amount, and we considered that it was information that was likely to influence consumers’ understanding of the claim and any transactional decision they might make because of it, since their choice of which supermarket to visit would also be impacted by other factors such as their relative distances or transport costs.

“We therefore considered the ad was misleading about the basis of the comparison in those regards.”

The ASA additionally discovered the advert misled customers as a result of the comparability associated to cost checks carried out between November 6 and 27, which had been prone to have modified by the point buyers can be shopping for their Christmas dinner.

The ASA mentioned: “We told Aldi to ensure that price comparisons with their competitors were not misleading, and that the basis of such comparisons was clear and adequately substantiated.”

An Aldi spokeswoman mentioned: “We are disappointed that the ASA has upheld this complaint based on an advertising technicality, but we remain confident that customers will make significant savings every time they shop with Aldi.

“That’s why we have been recognised by Which? as the UK’s Cheapest Supermarket for three years running.”

A Which? spokesman mentioned: “We support this decision by the ASA: consumers should not be subjected to potentially misleading advertising and it is right that the regulator is holding Aldi to account.

“We are disappointed that a Which? endorsement logo and our research was used in an advert that has broken the regulator’s rules on marketing and we have sought assurances from Aldi that it will not happen again.”