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Upheld ruling on product comparison claim
On 17 September 2025, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a ruling against a product website comparative claim for not adequately signposting consumers to sufficient information to be able verify the comparison with identifiable competitors.
The CAP Code requires that comparison claims with identifiable competitors must objectively compare one or more material, relevant, verifiable and representative feature of those products. For the claim to be verifiable under the Code, the advertiser must provide the basis for the comparison and sufficient information to allow for it to be checked within the ad itself, or signpost to the consumer within the ad how the information used to make the comparison could be checked by the target consumer themselves.
ASA noted that whilst the ad included a signpost to where consumers could find the information to verify the claim, through the referenced survey, they considered that such text was not clearly connected to the claim and was likely to be overlooked by website users. Therefore, ASA concluded that the ad did not sufficiently signpost consumers to information to verify the claim and thus breached the CAP Code.
The advert must not appear again in the current form, and the brand must ensure they provide sufficient information to allow consumers to verify comparisons with identifiable competitors, or signpost consumers to such information.
The ASA website has published guidance advice on claims of Comparisons, as well as guidance specifically on comparisons with Identifiable Competitors.
