UK grocer Tesco has been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) today (13 April) in its latest price promotion campaign against rival Asda.
The national press advertisment featured a range of fresh food products, their prices at Tesco and their equivalent prices at Asda. Text on the ad said: “Total Tesco Saving £4.91” with the claim “One place you won’t find your fresh food for the weekend? In the Asda Price Guarantee”.
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Asda said that Tesco’s claim was misleading and could not be substantiated, providing evidence showing that some 13 of the 20 products shown in the ad were included in the price guarantee.
In response to the ASA, Tesco apologised for the ad, saying that the mistake had been the result of an “internal communication error”. Tesco said the pricing details had been checked internally but Tesco’s advertising team had “mistakenly” believed that the products were not covered by Asda’s price guarantee. It added that the ad would not run again, and action would be taken to ensure a similar error did not happen again.
Rivalry between the two retailers has intensified since Asda extended its Price Guarantee in January this year, when it promised to refund the difference on some 15,000 items. Tesco hit back in February by offering vouchers worth twice the difference on 1,000 items if they found cheaper prices at Asda.
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