Safestyle reprimanded for "misleading" advertising campaign
SAFESTYLE UK, the Bradford-based manufacturer of windows and doors, has been reprimanded for running a “misleading” 55% off advertising campaign.
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has upheld a complaint that the offer could not be substantiated and told the company the advert must not run again in that form and that future savings claims must not “mislead about the benefit available”.
Clearcast, the organisation which approves adverts for broadcast, had received signed assurances from the company that the offer was genuine and the products had been sold without discount for at least the previous 93 days at the time of clearance.
In its judgement, the ASA said: “We noted that from the beginning of 2015 until the time the complainant saw the ad in early March there had been only one three-day period, in January, at which no promotional price was offered against Safestyle’s standard prices.
“Although there had also been a non-promotional period of 35 days at the end of 2014, the products had been offered at either 55% off or (for 14 days) on a buy-one-get-one free promotion for the majority of the preceding three months.
It added: “We considered the 55% saving claim was not based on the price at which the products were usually sold…we concluded that the ads were likely to mislead consumers as to the savings available.”
In its submission to the ASA, Safestyle had explained they had a rolling schedule of offer and non-offer prices and during the previous six months had had 86 offer days and 86 non-offer days.
