Advertisment
An advertisement for Joyce’s Supermarket Valentine’s Specials appeared in the Galway Advertiser which featured a bottle of Deinhard Secco on sale amongst other products. The advertisement stated:
“Half Price – Only €7.99
Deinhard Secco Prosecco 75cl”
Complaint
The complainant considered the advertisement to be misleading as Deinhard Secco is not prosecco but a sparkling wine.
Response
The advertisers said they would like to profoundly apologise for the error in the advertisement. They said that they had mistakenly referred to Deinhard Secco as ‘prosecco’ and they acknowledged that it is not.
They advised it was a genuine error on their behalf and that it was not their intention to mislead or misinform their customers. They further said they would like to reassure the Advertising Standards Authority that they had taken the necessary steps within their organisation to ensure this error does not reoccur.
Conclusion
Complaint upheld.
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response. They acknowledged that the advertisers had apologised for the error and they accepted that the advertisers were taking steps to ensure similar errors would not occur. However, the Committee felt that as the advertisement was incorrect at the time of publication, the claim made therein would have had the potential to mislead consumers about the product and may have influenced their decision to purchase. In the circumstances the Committee considered the advertisement was in breach of sections 4.1, 4.4, 4.9 and 4.10 of the Code.
ACTION REQUIRED:
The advertisement should not reappear in its current form.
The Committee also requested the advertisers to make sure that they had processes in place to ensure that errors do not occur.
