Red faces at Tesco as ASA backs Asda

Tesco’s aggressive ad campaign, claiming the supermarket chain is cheaper than rivals, has been contradicted by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after evidence put forward by Tesco to defend its claim apparently showed that Asda is cheaper.

The ASA noted that AC Nielsen price comparisons – submitted by Tesco – which included 6,000 Asda products showed that Asda “had consistently lower prices than Tesco”.

It ruled that Tesco was wrong to claim in a press ad, created by Lowe, that “No other supermarket is more committed to cutting prices”.

The decision comes two months after the ASA ruled that Boots was justified in claiming in its advertising that consumers could save &£51 a year buying toiletries at its stores rather than at Tesco (MW February 21).

In the same month, Tesco announced &£70m in price cuts on more than 1,500 lines. However, it was forced to defend its pricing strategy after it emerged the company had been raising the cost of hundreds of other products. The company claimed the increases represented discount offers coming to an end.

But, the ASA supported Tesco’s claim that it has invested &£1bn in reducing its prices over the past five years, noting that the total figure actually exceeds &£1bn.