An agent that circulated a leaflet claiming that its sales success covered a three-month period when in fact the statistics related to two months was the subject of a complaint by a competitor to the Advertising Standards Authority.
A direct mailing for Cooper Estates was headlined: “MORE SALES AGREED IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2016 THAN ANY OTHER AGENT”.
Smaller text stated that the information below in the ad was based on resale dates from January 7 this year to March 7, and the data was derived from Rightmove.
Agents Henderson Connellean, who believed the period of time from which the data was drawn was not generally representative of the sales agreed in the first quarter of 2016, challenged whether the claim was misleading and could be substantiated.
An ASA spokesperson said: “We contacted the advertiser who agreed the claim was misleading as the data only covered a two-month period and most consumers would understand the first quarter of 2016 to cover a three-month period. They informed us they had ceased distributing the leaflet several weeks ago and would not be reproducing it again.
“We considered no further action was therefore required, so closed the case on an informal basis.”
A complaint about a listing by Bucks Property Agents was also informally resolved.
The complainant, who understood that a garden plot of land was being sold separately, challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that it was included with the cottage.
An ASA spokesperson said: “We contacted the advertiser who amended the listing to clarify that the side plot was being sold separately and amended the ‘key features’ section of the Rightmove listing to further highlight this.
“We considered no further action was therefore required, so closed the case on an informal basis.”
Ah, the old ‘case closed on an informal basis’. How marvellous to see the savage fangs of the ASA in action yet again.
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Do they ever do anything other than close cases on an informal basis?
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I would love to know what they do when it is formal!
On a side note agents should read up on BPR’s:
An advertisement is comparative if it either explicitly or implicitly identifies a competitor or goods or services offered by a competitor. Comparative advertising is allowed, but only if it is not misleading and meets certain other conditions, which are set out within the regulations.
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