[caption id="attachment_9209" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Halfords has been told to change its ad"]
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Halfords Autocentres has been told that an advert used on its website claiming customers could save up to 50 percent on main dealer pricing must not appear again.
The ruling from the ASA upholds a complaint made against the company by the SMMT. Halfords is now running an alternative advert highlighting savings of up to 40 percent instead.
The ASA noted that although Halfords had conducted research and collected data to support its claims, the comparison made between Halfords’ own time-limited online offers and the non-promotional prices given by dealers was misleading.
The ASA therefore ruled that the ad breached articles of the ASA's code and must not appear again.
SMMT CEO Paul Everitt welcomed the decision: “It is important [that] consumers are presented with accurate information and competition is based on fair comparisons. I hope all advertisers will accurately reflect the products and services they offer and avoid claims which don’t stand up to scrutiny."
Halfords responded to the complaint with a statement which you can read here.
Desperate times - desperate measures ! Just look around at what the motorfactors are doing !