ASA Adjudication on Select Windows Honiton Ltd

Ad

A regional press ad for a local windows and conservatories company stated "Select Windows & Conservatories Established 1988".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the company could substantiate the claim that they had been trading continuously since 1988.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Select Windows Honiton Ltd (Select) enquired about the nature of the complaint and the basis on which they could use their 'established since' date. However, they did not send evidence in support of the claim.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA acknowledged that Select had contacted us about our investigation. However we considered that, in the absence of any evidence to substantiate the 'established date' used in the ad, the claim had not been proven. We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action

We told Select not to state that they had been established since 1988 unless they held evidence to support that claim. We advised them to seek guidance from the CAP Copy Advice team when preparing future ads.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)