26th Aug 2015 16:10
LONDON (Alliance News) - The UK Advertising Standards Authority on Wednesday ruled that Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC must not repeat adverts for its Match & More scheme until it has provided more clarity for customers on how exactly it makes its price match comparisons.
The ASA received 19 complaints from members of the public and from rival Aldi against a TV advert featuring Ant and Dec and a four-page advertisement in a regional newspaper, both of which claimed that Morrisons was the only supermarket to price match Aldi and Lidl.
The complaints led the ASA to investigate five issues, four of which were not upheld and one of which was upheld in the ruling on Wednesday.
The issue which was upheld related to a complaint that the "relevant verification information was not sufficient", with regards to how the supermarket comparisons are actually made. The ASA ruled that Morrisons must clearly state on its website the basis on which it makes its comparisons, which products were actually compared and at what prices.
The issues that were not upheld comprised complaints that it was unclear how Match & More worked, that the TV advert was misleading regarding the GBP15 minimum spend, that the TV advert was misleading regarding the award of points rather than cash, and that the TV advert was misleading because it did not make clear that points would be awarded for the overall difference on an entire shop rather than on an individual basis.
The ASA ruled that it would not uphold any of those four issues as the relevant information was explained in the TV advert either verbally or in text, or was contained in the small print of the newspaper advert.
Shares in Morrisons closed down 1.0% at 165.30 pence on Wednesday.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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