Tesco wins ad battle v Asda
Supermarket giant Tesco has won a battle to get a campaign run by rival Asda banned after complaining to the ad watchdog that claims in the ad that it offers lower prices than rivals were misleading. Tesco lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority challenging three claims made by Asda as part of its ongoing “The big Asda Rollback” newspaper marketing campaign.
Tesco argued that the claim “Lower prices on everything you buy, week in week out” was ambiguous as it was unclear whether Asda was referring just to its own price reductions or comparing them with competitors’ prices. Second, Tesco said that the “over 930 prices lowered” claim was untrue. And third, the supermarket chain said the claim “Lower prices than any other supermarket” was misleading because Asda only compared its prices with some supermarkets. The ASA banned the advertisement.