Britain’s advertising regulator has upheld Sainsbury’s complaint that Adli’s ad comparing prices of their Christmas dinners was misleading.
The ruling was in reference to a wrap-around four page national press ad for Britain’s fourth largest retailer Aldi published on 6 December 2023.
The ad claimed that Aldi was “The home of Britain’s cheapest Christmas dinner”.
It then said “Sainsbury’s £44.81”, “Aldi £33.80” and “Swap & Save over 20% on your Christmas dinner”.
Britain’s second leading retailer Sainsbury’s argued that the claims were misleading.
It also called Aldi’s claim of “2022 price locked” misleading.
Aldi said the claims were based on independent third party comparison by consumer group Which?.
Despite this, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld Sainsbury’s complaint on all three issues and ruled that the ad must not appear again in the form complained of.
It said, “We told Aldi … to ensure that price comparisons with their competitors were not misleading, and that the basis of such comparisons was clear and adequately sustained.”
Sainsbury’s welcomed the ruling, saying, “It’s really important to us that customers are able to make fairly informed decisions about where they choose to shop and we are glad the ASA has recognised the misleading nature of this ad.”
Aldi expressed disappointment at the verdict.
A spokesperson said, “We are disappointed that the ASA has upheld this complaint based on an advertising technicality, but we remain confident that customers will make significant savings every time they shop with Aldi.”
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