Tesco did not mislead consumers by claiming its Clubcard loyalty scheme “gives you more to spend on your groceries” than Sainsbury’s Nectar, according to the Advertising Standards Authority.
The regulator has rejected Sainsbury’s complaint about a Tesco digital poster that claimed Clubcard points were worth twice as much as Nectar points when converted to spend on groceries.
The outdoor ad, which appeared last September, showed an image of sandwiches with text saying “£1 from 100 Clubcard points” and “50p from 100 Nectar points*”.
The ad boasted: “Clubcard gives you more to spend on your groceries than Nectar. Stacks more.”
Sainsbury’s complained it implied overall superiority of Clubcard over Nectar, and that it ignored differences in the way consumers could collect points in the two schemes, including bonus points offered with Nectar.
However, the ASA said the context provided in the ad – including qualifying text saying “comparison excludes Nectar points value enhancing or bonus points offers” – meant consumers were unlikely to be misled by the specific comparison made.
“We understood that when using Clubcard points to spend on groceries the conversion was £1 for every 100 points collected,” said the regulator. “When using Nectar points to spend on groceries, the conversion was 50p for every 100 points collected.
“Therefore, whilst there may have been differences in the savings and collection of points between the two schemes, because the same number of points converted to twice the monetary value with Tesco compared to Sainsbury’s when used for groceries, we concluded that the ad had been substantiated and was not misleading.”
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