Counting rands: Pick n Pay's double trouble on Handy Andy adverts

Pick n Pay has been sanctioned for misleading advertising by the directorate of the Advertising Regulatory Board over a Handy Andy promotion.

The complaint was laid by consumer Thokozani Phakathi, who objected to in-store advertising for a special on Handy Andy at Pick n Pay Van Riebeeck Park in Kempton Park.

Phakathi stated that while brazen birthday advertising claimed that customers who bought two Handy Andy detergents for R46 would save R19, in actual fact the saving would only be R3.98, as the units on display were priced at R24.99 per unit.

Pick n Pay responded to the regulator, claiming that the actual unit price for Handy Andy was R32.99 and the R24.99 price marked on the shelf was that of a different promotion running on the same product.

Pick n Pay submitted a screen grab from its website, showing the normal unit price, as well as the special offer.

Referring to the Code of Advertising Practice, the ARB found that: “Advertisements should not contain any statement or visual presentation which, directly or by implication, omission, ambiguity, inaccuracy, exaggerated claim or otherwise, is likely to mislead the consumer.”

The board found that the in-store promotion in the photograph supplied by the complainant was likely to mislead the consumer. However, it also pointed out that Pick n Pay had shown that the standard price of Handy Andy was R32.99, and the actual saving would therefore have been R19.98 – even better than the R19 advertised.

“It is accepted that if the two promos are viewed in isolation, they are both correct ... but while the saving achieved by purchasing two units can be calculated against the nonpromotional single unit cost, the fact remains that at the time when both promotions are running, the stated saving of R19 could not be achieved in relation to the shelf price at that time.”

Using the test of the reasonable man, the ARB found that a customer presented with the “save R19” promotion was justified in believing that he would save that amount of money by buying two units rather than one – even though the word “promo” does appear in very small print on the R24.99 shelf price tag for the units in store.

The ARB found that Pick n Pay had not done enough to clarify that there were two concurrent specials running on the same product

“While the directorate is sympathetic to the advertiser’s point that it is running not one but two special offers on the product, the presentation of the concurrent promotions is lacking in sufficient detail for the true saving at the time to be clear,” said the ruling, finding the advertising to be in violation of the Code of Advertising Practice.

Pick n Pay was instructed to “remove or amend the advertising promoting a R19 saving on Handy Andy” within two weeks. It was also asked to take the ruling into account in the rolling out of concurrent specials in future.

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