ASA upholds complaint that Homebase adverts were misleading
The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint regarding an advertising campaign run by DIY chain Homebase.
The ASA received a complaint that Homebase TV and radio adverts broadcast earlier this year ,which promised 15% off “on top of our other great offers”, were misleading because they did not make clear that customers could not use promotional vouchers to make purchases under the offer.
Homebase argued that it understood exclusions to offers could be brought to consumers’ attention in an abridged manner in TV and radio ads, due to the time and space constraints of the mediums, provided there were measures in place to make the information available to consumers by other means. It said that, because the ads did not state that the 15% discount applied to “all” their other offers, it indicated to consumers that exclusions might apply, and noted that the radio ad specifically stated “exclusions apply”.
In its ruling, the advertising watchdog said: “We concluded the ads were misleading, because the overall impression of each of the ads was that the national discount day offer could be used in conjunction with all other Homebase offers, when that was not in fact the case. We also concluded the statement ‘exclusions apply’ in the radio ad contradicted, rather than clarified, that impression.”
Never Miss a Retail Update!The ASA ruled that the adverts could no longer be run in their current form.
