Sainsbury's scan and pack' television ad, featuring celebrity chef Jamie Oliver having his shopping packed by checkout staff has been banned by TV watchdogs for being misleading.
In the ad, two girls watch Jamie Oliver having his carrier bags packed and they assume that he is getting star treatment. However a checkout assistant explains: "We scan and pack now."
The Independent Television Commission received seven complaints from the public who said at some Sainsbury supermarkets only three or four items were packed, while another store would only pack the first bag.
Sainsbury said its commitment to customers was to scan and pack the first few items into the carrier bag and said there were no claims in the ad to suggest it would pack all the customer's purchases. However the ITC judged that the ad gave the "strong impression" that staff would pack all of the shopping and not just the first few items and ruled the ad misleading and that it could not be shown again in its current form.
A Sainsbury spokeswoman apologised for the ad. "The vast majority of our customers are delighted we have recruited 10,000 extra people to help them pack their bags and open more checkouts. We have already cut checkout queue times by one minute on average," she added.

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