‘Misleading’ Tupperware ad must be withdrawn immediately: ASA

Tupperware Southern Africa has been instructed to withdraw an advertisement in their brochure immediately - describing it as misleading.

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) made the ruling on Monday.

Deena Pillay complained about an offer in Tupperware Southern Africa’s brochure for a Space Saver Oval Set of containers‚ for R399.

It reads: “KEEP IT FRESH. Space Saver Oval Set.”

It says the set consists of:

• Space Saver Oval 3 (1.7L)
• Space Saver Oval 4 (2.3L)
• Free 2 X Space Saver Oval 1 (500ml)
• Free Space Saver Oval 2 (1.1L)
• Free Space Saver Oval 5 (2.9L)

At the bottom of the page‚ there is a table with the different products‚ colours‚ sizes and prices.

Pillay said the brochure was “untruthful‚ misleading and has omitted crucial information”.

“If you calculate all the individual prices of the advertised Tupperware‚ it would add up to R399‚ therefore you are actually paying for all the oval containers and nothing is for free‚” Pillay said.

The normal selling price is not shown on the page.

Tupperware Southern Africa’s argued that promotions are compared to the normal selling price to show the saving or discounted value.

But the ASA hit back.

“The only pricing that appears on the advertising is the sale pricing. If one were to buy only Oval 3 and 4 on the sale (the items that are not ‘free’)‚ one would pay R141. To buy all 5 items‚ one must pay R399. Therefore‚ in the context of the sale pricing‚ which is the only pricing in the advertising‚ the remaining items are indeed not ‘free’.”

The ASA added: “The table of pricing would have shown the normal‚ non-sale prices. This is not the case.”

The ASA ruled the advert was misleading‚ because the “free” items were not free.

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