The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has banned an advert from bread maker Warburtons after its claims it is London’s biggest baker.
Following complaints from rivals Allied Bakeries and Premier Foods plc, the ASA has ordered Warburtons to either amend or pull the ad that said it was “No. 1 – Now London’s biggest bakers”.
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The ASA said Warburtons must ensure “comparative claims were sufficiently qualified in future”.
After Allied Bakeries, the UK bread arm of Associated British Foods, and Premier complained to the ASA, Warburtons argued its claim was verified by market research data. The figures, it said, showed it “had the largest market share over 52 and 12 weeks with Premier … having the second-largest market share over 52 weeks and Allied Bakeries having the second-largest market share over 12 weeks”.
The ASA said the claim failed to consider bakery products from independent retailers and convenience stores. It also argued the data did not include freshly baked in-store products that might be available in grocery multiples. The watchdog also claimed consumers would interpret the word “bakers” to include a retailer that sold freshly baked products and not a retailer that exclusively offered wrapped bakery products.
“We noted that Warburtons did not verify the data source in the ad,” said the ASA. “Consumers had not been provided with sufficient information to understand the basis of comparison and we therefore concluded that the claim was misleading.”
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By GlobalDataWarburtons was unavailable for comment when approached by just-food.
