Asda told to change adverts by ASA

Asda adverts promoting price competition against other supermarkets must be changed, the advertising watchdog has ruled. The adverts promised to refund customers the difference during their next shop if they found groceries cheaper at the other major stores.

But Morrisons and Tesco complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that there were significant exclusions from the price comparison. Asda argued the comparison was robust.

Cheaper?
Tesco and Morrisons complained to the ASA that the adverts were misleading as they implied that Asda was cheaper than the two supermarkets and Sainsbury's. Asda disagreed, arguing that the adverts made it clear that the offer only applied to comparable grocery products.

The ASA upheld, or partly upheld, four of the nine complaints against Asda. The watchdog said that Asda did not make it clear enough that the price guarantee did not apply to non-grocery products, such as books and football-related items that appeared prominently in the adverts. It ruled that the adverts must not appear again in their current form.

Competition
The complaints mark the latest salvo in the battle between the big supermarkets over prices.

Share of the supermarket sector

Tesco: 30.5%
Asda: 16.9%
Sainsbury's: 16.6%
Morrisons: 12.4%
Source: Kantar Worldpanel, 12 weeks to 23 January

Ronan Hagerty, news editor of the Grocer magazine, described the current row as "very bitter". But he added that the current competition over prices was unsustainable, owing to rising food and fuel costs. "They will keep it as competitive as possible and that is the good news for the consumer," he told BBC Radio 5 live.

Source : BBC Business News