The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint from Morrisons that TV adverts by Aldi comparing prices from the ‘big four” to Aldi’s own were “misleading”.
The ASA noted that the focus of TV adverts complained about were around saving money on grocery shopping and that it included a number of specific and more general comparative price claims. One such advert made reference to Morrisons ‘Price Crunch’.
Morrisons and two members of the public complained that the adverts did not make it clear that the advertising was comparing the price of Aldi's own-brand products with branded products from other supermarkets.
The ASA acknowledged that Aldi stated they had not intended the comparisons to represent a ‘typical’ weekly shop but to be a comparison between the products pictured in the adverts only.
However, it added that it had not been provided with any evidence from Aldi that the comparator shops (were a fair and truly representative selection of goods typically purchased. The ASA also considered that it was “unlikely that price conscious consumers to whom the ads were targeted would purchase such a large proportion of branded goods when own-brand goods were typically available and would generally be cheaper”.
The campaign, which included two TV adverts and a press advert, have been banned in their current format.
