Why no more Start Prices?
- Thread starter Bexi
- Start date
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clemenzina
Registered Shopper
This is not a definitive answer, but the following might have something to do with it:
http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_44961.htm
Extracts (to save you looking it up):
ASA Adjudications - 10 September 2008
Sit-Up Ltd t/a Price Drop
171-181 The Vale
Acton
London
W3 7RW
Ad
An ad, for a Russell Hobbs air purifier, on Price Drop TV said "You can use it as an ioniser as well. It freshens the air ... youve got your three stage HEPA filtration, so if you suffer from hay fever ... this is designed to get rid of things like pollen. All those little spores that you get in the summer time. This is ideal. Or, perhaps, if you have pets in your home or if you have a smoker in your home perhaps you know and you just want to get rid of those odours ... Now I have got to talk to you about dust mites as well. Dust mites do breed in those conditions; when its warm, when its moist, when its hot. Thats the conditions that dust mites breed in. And the dust mites faeces, their doo-doo in other words, can trigger off allergies in sensitive people. This can reduce that. And its a small price to pay to reduce the risk of allergies ... now the ioniser freshens the air and reduces the feelings of stress and fatigue.
Price Drop TV is a reverse auction channel. The air purifier was advertised with a start price of £120, which remained on-screen throughout the auction. At the end of the auction the air purifier was sold for £24.99. The presenter said "What you are getting here is great value for money. First of all, the name Russell Hobbs; that's assurance of quality. Its one of the biggest brand names when it comes to electrical appliances." She added "My friend David spent just over 70 quid for his air purifier in his home, you'd think hed know better, you'd think hed know better as he works here too. He spent just over 70 quid, youre looking at less than 33 quid."
Issue
Monitoring staff challenged whether:
1. evidence substantiated the claim that the air purifier benefited allergy sufferers and would reduce the risk of developing allergies;
2. the ioniser in the air purifier reduced feelings of stress and fatigue;
3. the start price implied the air purifier was generally available at that price.
Response
Blah blah blah...
3. Upheld
We considered that keeping the start price on-screen throughout implied a price comparison for which the air purifier was generally available. We noted the Russell Hobbs air purifier was available on an auction website for £68.99 but it did not seem to be available anywhere else. We understood from Price Drop TV that they were the exclusive distributor for the air purifier and that the auction item was most probably a re-sale item. We noted the air purifier for sale on the three websites submitted by Price Drop TV was a much slimmer, newer model than the advertised Russell Hobbs, which had been discontinued. We also noted that it was designed for a small room whereas the Russell Hobbs air purifier was for a large room. When a comparison was made with the same brand of air purifier, but one that was suitable for a large room, the combined clean air delivery rate was 802 compared with 614.7 for the Russell Hobbs model. We acknowledged that the Russell Hobbs air purifier had four fan speeds but noted the fan revolutions per minute had not been specified. The Russell Hobbs air purifier had a "silent mode for night time use" but the noise level in decibels was not specified. We considered that the comparison with the large air purifier or the small one was distorted because, for the small air purifier, the product was intended for a smaller room and, for the large air purifier the comparison model was considerably more powerful. We considered that using either of those machines as the basis of a price comparison was misleading.
We noted rule 5.3.1 required broadcasters to refer to the BERR Pricing Practices Guide, which stated that, in comparisons with another traders prices, you should "give the name of the other trader clearly and prominently with the price comparison" and "ensure that the other traders price to which you quote applies to the same product - or to substantially similar product and you state any differences clearly." We noted Price Drop TV had not done that. We considered that using the price of other air purifiers did not substantiate that the advertised air freshener was generally available for £120. We concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.3.1 (Accurate pricing).
Action
We concluded that the ad must not be broadcast again in its present form and that the product should not be advertised without adequate substantiation for the claims made for it.
clemenzina
http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_44961.htm
Extracts (to save you looking it up):
ASA Adjudications - 10 September 2008
Sit-Up Ltd t/a Price Drop
171-181 The Vale
Acton
London
W3 7RW
Ad
An ad, for a Russell Hobbs air purifier, on Price Drop TV said "You can use it as an ioniser as well. It freshens the air ... youve got your three stage HEPA filtration, so if you suffer from hay fever ... this is designed to get rid of things like pollen. All those little spores that you get in the summer time. This is ideal. Or, perhaps, if you have pets in your home or if you have a smoker in your home perhaps you know and you just want to get rid of those odours ... Now I have got to talk to you about dust mites as well. Dust mites do breed in those conditions; when its warm, when its moist, when its hot. Thats the conditions that dust mites breed in. And the dust mites faeces, their doo-doo in other words, can trigger off allergies in sensitive people. This can reduce that. And its a small price to pay to reduce the risk of allergies ... now the ioniser freshens the air and reduces the feelings of stress and fatigue.
Price Drop TV is a reverse auction channel. The air purifier was advertised with a start price of £120, which remained on-screen throughout the auction. At the end of the auction the air purifier was sold for £24.99. The presenter said "What you are getting here is great value for money. First of all, the name Russell Hobbs; that's assurance of quality. Its one of the biggest brand names when it comes to electrical appliances." She added "My friend David spent just over 70 quid for his air purifier in his home, you'd think hed know better, you'd think hed know better as he works here too. He spent just over 70 quid, youre looking at less than 33 quid."
Issue
Monitoring staff challenged whether:
1. evidence substantiated the claim that the air purifier benefited allergy sufferers and would reduce the risk of developing allergies;
2. the ioniser in the air purifier reduced feelings of stress and fatigue;
3. the start price implied the air purifier was generally available at that price.
Response
Blah blah blah...
3. Upheld
We considered that keeping the start price on-screen throughout implied a price comparison for which the air purifier was generally available. We noted the Russell Hobbs air purifier was available on an auction website for £68.99 but it did not seem to be available anywhere else. We understood from Price Drop TV that they were the exclusive distributor for the air purifier and that the auction item was most probably a re-sale item. We noted the air purifier for sale on the three websites submitted by Price Drop TV was a much slimmer, newer model than the advertised Russell Hobbs, which had been discontinued. We also noted that it was designed for a small room whereas the Russell Hobbs air purifier was for a large room. When a comparison was made with the same brand of air purifier, but one that was suitable for a large room, the combined clean air delivery rate was 802 compared with 614.7 for the Russell Hobbs model. We acknowledged that the Russell Hobbs air purifier had four fan speeds but noted the fan revolutions per minute had not been specified. The Russell Hobbs air purifier had a "silent mode for night time use" but the noise level in decibels was not specified. We considered that the comparison with the large air purifier or the small one was distorted because, for the small air purifier, the product was intended for a smaller room and, for the large air purifier the comparison model was considerably more powerful. We considered that using either of those machines as the basis of a price comparison was misleading.
We noted rule 5.3.1 required broadcasters to refer to the BERR Pricing Practices Guide, which stated that, in comparisons with another traders prices, you should "give the name of the other trader clearly and prominently with the price comparison" and "ensure that the other traders price to which you quote applies to the same product - or to substantially similar product and you state any differences clearly." We noted Price Drop TV had not done that. We considered that using the price of other air purifiers did not substantiate that the advertised air freshener was generally available for £120. We concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.3.1 (Accurate pricing).
Action
We concluded that the ad must not be broadcast again in its present form and that the product should not be advertised without adequate substantiation for the claims made for it.
clemenzina
Thanks for taking the time to post all that information , was wondering myself about the start prices
