Iceland has been rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority over a regional newspaper ad featuring deals and price comparisons with Tesco.
The ad, which ran between 21 and 25 March, made the claim “7 day deals, when it’s gone it’s gone” on one side, and on the other, “UK’s cheapest cuppa - save £4.08 versus Tesco”.
Three images of promoted products - milk, McVitie’s Chocolate Digestives and PG Tips - ran underneath, accompanied by price claims in red boxes for Iceland and blue boxes for Tesco.
The PG Tips price for Iceland was “Now £3.29, was £4.50”. The Tesco price was “£5.99”, it said.
The Iceland price for milk was “only £1 each” while the Tesco price was “£1.09”. The Iceland price for the biscuits was “Now £1 each, was £1.50” compared to Tesco’s “£2.99”.
Tesco claimed the price comparisons were misleading because they compared Iceland’s promotional prices with Tesco’s non-promotional prices.
Small text at the bottom of the ad said that price comparisons were made and checked on 12 February and the offer was available in-store until 26 March, online until 25 March and for online delivery until 26 March.
It claimed a £4.08 saving versus Tesco, based on Tesco standard prices of the products pictured.
Tesco also complained the prices dated from five weeks before the ad was published.
Another two challenges related to whether the claim “UK’s cheapest cuppa” was misleading and could be substantiated, and whether it was verifiable.
The ASA upheld all challenges and said the ad must not appear again in the form complained of.
“We told Iceland Foods to ensure the basis of their price comparisons were clear and their ads reflected the prices available to consumers,” the ASA said.
“We also told them to ensure they provided sufficient information for consumers to be able to verify the comparisons for themselves.”
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