Premier Foods force ban on Warburtons advert
A Warburtons press advert claiming to be London’s biggest baker was banned by the ASA, after complaints from Premier Foods and Allied Bakeries.
Warburtons claimed its advert stating ‘No.1 Now London's biggest bakers’ was verified by a global independent market research company.
Its data showed that, for the week ending May 25 2013, the bread maker had the largest market share over 52 and 12 weeks, it claimed.
Premier Foods’s Hovis brand had the second largest market share over 52 weeks and Allied Bakeries had the second largest market share over 12 weeks, the research claimed.
The ASA agreed Premier Foods and Allied Bakeries claim that the advert was misleading and could not be substantiated: “We told Warburtons to ensure that their comparative claims were sufficiently qualified in future,” said the ASA.
The advertising watchdog reached its ruling after noting that Hovis provided data from its own independent market research sources, which contradicted Warburtons’ data.
“We noted that the data used by Warburtons only included grocery multiples and excluded impulse channels,” said the ASA. “We considered that a significant number of consumers were likely to buy bakery products from independent retailers and convenience stores, rather than, or as well as, at large supermarkets.”