Sainsbury’s has lodged an appeal against the ASA’s decision to reject its complaint about a Tesco Price Promise advert. The supermarket originally complained about a regional ad for the price-matching scheme saying it didn’t compare attributes such as whether a product was British sourced or Fairtrade certified.
However, the ASA ruled that its code only required advertisers to compare goods that met the same need or intended purpose, and that it considered the same-need test had been met because food such as meat, eggs, or fish were interchangeable.
The spat put the spotlight on the provenance of ham, with Sainsbury’s group commercial director, Mike Coupe, complaining that that Tesco’s “Price Promise” compared the price of Sainsbury’s basics Ham with Tesco Everyday Value Ham.
“They’re priced the same,” he said, “but our pork is British and Tesco’s is sourced from somewhere in the EU.”
The NFU has now also backed backed Sainsbury’s stance. The organisation’s director of policy, Martin Haworth, said the union could only applaud Sainsbury’s for promoting its use of British-sourced produce.
“Comparing EU ham with ham produced in Britain is wrong and misleading to consumers,” he added.
