Asda could not keep up with the pace of its enthusiasm to slash the prices of &"iconic products&" in its More for Less campaign launched in March.
Newspaper advertising proclaiming that it had slashed the price of bananas hit the streets before stores had got their act together - and this landed it in trouble with the Advertising Standards Authority.
Morrisons&' complaint about a national press advertisement saying that Asda was rolling back the price of bananas was upheld by the ASA.
The advertisement crossed out the price 85p/kg for loose bananas and stated that they had been reduced to 64p/kg.
Morrisons purchased bananas in four Asda stores in West Yorkshire on March 16, the day the advertisement appeared, and found bananas still on sale priced at 85p/kg.
Asda said that it had instructed its stores to cut the price on the day in question at 6am, but only 92% of stores had in fact changed the price by the afternoon.
The ASA said that as a ­result some shoppers would have come across the higher price after seeing the Asda advertisements in their morning newspapers. Asda told the ASA that it had carried out a progress check at 1.45pm and found that 92% of their stores had made the price change; stores that had not done so were then contacted by e-mail and telephone to ensure that the prices were changed.
An Asda spokesman told The Grocer: &"We&'ll ensure next time that all our stores have automatically lowered their prices before our advertising appears.&"
He added: &"Whether it&'s bananas or beans, customers are in no doubt as to who the best value supermarket in Yorkshire is.&"
The ASA told Asda that it should change prices before the early editions of newspapers appeared carrying such ads, or to make it clear in such press ads that the price cuts would apply after 8am in 24-hour stores.
Kit Davies

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