‘Misleading’ Frasers ad banned amid feud with watchdog
The advertising watchdog has censured Frasers Group for running a “misleading” ad just days after its finance chief ramped up a bitter row with the regulator. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an online advert published by Sports Direct, which is owned by Frasers, for Puma sports top which it said misled shoppers over [...]
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a Frasers Group advert for featuring a misleading discount on a Puma sports top. This comes just days after the company's finance chief, Chris Wootton, criticized the regulator's crackdown on fake discounts, calling it "harder for traders to promote genuine price discounts." The Frasers-owned retailer ran an online ad for a Puma zipped baselayer top, which it claimed was discounted to £17 from a recommended retail price (RRP) of £45.
However, the ASA ruled that the advert was misleading because Frasers could not provide sufficient evidence that the top was generally sold at £45 across the market. In response, Frasers Group claimed the ASA's requirement for RRPs to reflect the price at which a product is "generally sold in the market" is unworkable and has no legal basis, and vowed to contest the ruling.
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