Three ads by budget supermarket Aldi are banned for misleading customers over savings
Supermarket compared its own-brand products with branded goods at rivals
ALDI have had to pull three adverts claiming customers could make significant savings compared with the "big four" supermarkets - after they were deemed unfair and not "truly representative".
Two of the ads were television commercials which claimed a £70 Aldi shop would cost £98 at Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, and Morrisons.
The adverts also compared a £33.04 Aldi basket with the "equivalent" at its competitors, which it claimed would cost £53.35.
Morrisons and two members of the public said the ads failed to make it clear Aldi's own-brand products were being compared with branded products sold at other supermarkets.
Aldi's rivals all sell cheaper own-brand equivalents.
A third pulled-ad appeared in the press and read: "When it comes to the crunch, Aldi win every time.
"Other supermarkets go up, down, all over the place. But Aldi have 'everyday low prices', so you know where you stand."
Aldi said consumers were likely to interpret the comparison as intended - their own-branded groceries compared with the branded from the big four.
They said they believed consumers would know that its competitors stocked own-brand products which met the same need, as on-screen text in their commercials read: "Other supermarkets may sell 'own brand' products at different prices."
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said consumers were led to believe by the ads that switching supermarkets would help them make savings.
The ASA said it was unlikely that price-conscious shoppers would buy such a large proportion of branded items when own-brand goods were typically available.
An ASA spokesperson said: "We acknowledged that Aldi stated they had not intended the comparisons to represent a 'typical' weekly shop, but to be a comparison between the pictured products only.
"Nonetheless, we considered that was how consumers would interpret the ads rather than as a representation of the savings which could be made by switching from a largely branded shop to shopping in Aldi, and therefore assessed them on that basis."
The spokesperson added: "Because the ads implied that by swapping from their usual big supermarket to shopping at Aldi, consumers could make savings of the levels highlighted in the ads, rather than presenting the comparison as a representation of the savings which could be made by switching from a largely branded shop to shopping in Aldi, and we had not seen evidence to demonstrate that was the case we concluded that the ads were misleading."
Aldi's UK and Ireland chief executive Matthew Barnes said: "We are extremely disappointed with the ASA's decision, which is ambiguous and inconsistent.
"The use of comparative advertising is a well-established principle and is firmly in the interests of consumers and encourages competition between retailers.
"We will work within this new guidance from the ASA and continue to promote the significant price gap between Aldi's quality, award winning products and their higher priced brand equivalents."