Co-op ad banned over misleading' price-match scheme claims

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"A Co-op advertisement promoting its price-match scheme with Aldi has been deemed misleading by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for failing to compare genuinely similar products. The ruling followed a complaint from Aldi, which provided the ASA with a list of 45 items from Co-op's August advertisement that it believed were inappropriately compared. The Co-op's ad prominently stated "Everyday Essentials price matched to Aldi," with smaller text adding: "We match the prices of certain Co-op products against comparable products available at Aldi.""

"While the ASA acknowledged that some products were indeed exact matches in terms of variant and size such as Co-op's Seeded Loaf, Tiger Bloomer, White Toastie Loaf, and Wholemeal Loaf it found significant discrepancies in other comparisons. The watchdog highlighted instances where Co-op matched items to similar alternatives when no identical product was available at Aldi. These included Co-op's Linguini Pasta being compared with Aldi's Cucina Spaghetti, Co-op's Summer Fruits Flavoured Still Spring Water with Aldi's Appl"

The Independent solicits donations to fund reporters covering reproductive rights, climate change, and Big Tech while keeping reporting free from paywalls. Donations support on-the-ground journalism, investigations such as financial probes of political PACs, and documentary projects like 'The A Word' about American women fighting for reproductive rights. Separately, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled that a Co-op price-match advertisement with Aldi was misleading for failing to compare genuinely similar products. The ASA found some exact matches among bakery items but identified multiple inappropriate comparisons where Co-op matched different variants or sizes to Aldi alternatives.

Read at www.independent.co.uk