Tesco slams ad watchdog over ‘unclear’ ruling
Tesco has slammed the advertising watchdog as “confused” after its complaint against an Asda advertisement was rejected earlier this week.
The supermarket is looking to appeal the Advertising Standards Authority’s decision to clear an Asda ad that featured a customer claiming shoppers could save £15 by choosing it over Tesco.
Tesco complained that the ad did not make it clear that the comparison included promotional prices. It added that it implied that shoppers could regularly make that value of savings.
The ASA ruled, however, that it was clear the claims were made by a customer and that a range of promotional and non-promotional items were included.
A Tesco spokeswoman says: “The Asda advert appears to be have been upheld on the grounds that it wasn’t Asda making the misleading claim, it was the unsuspecting customer in their advert. We are considering whether to appeal further as this latest ruling is not clear to anyone.”
Disputed ASA rulings can be heard by an independent review team on an advertisers request.
An ASA spokesman says that any advertiser is free to appeal to the decision.
The complaint made by Tesco is the latest tit-for-tat between the two supermarkets. A number of complaints have been made about respective advertising campaigns in the past year.
