Morrisons has come out on top in its battle with rival grocer Asda over an advert that compared the cost of a weekly shop in each supermarket .
Morrisons complained to the ASA that the ads were misleading and did not represent a fair comparison because most of the savings were based on promotional prices, including Asda “Rollbacks”, and did not take into account Morrisons’ buy one get one free offers .
Morrisons also said the products compared might not represent a typical weekly shop .
The Asda advert showed a shopping trolley containing 44 items, alongside text which read: “Your weekly shop costs less at Asda . Why pay more?”
The Advertising Standards Association (ASA) upheld the Morrisons complaints and ruled that the Asda ad should not be used again as it did not represent a fair comparison and added that “the savings claims in the ads could mislead customers”.
The ASA also noted that Asda had been previously warned that it should make clear when promotional prices were involved and said: “Repeated breaches of the Advertising Code could result in further sanctions.”
Asda has been ordered by the ASA to make it clear in marketing material where promotional prices were involved in comparisons and to make sure that evidence to back up future price comparison ads was made available on request.
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