Halfords in the UK has had a promotion banned by the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The promotion involved Halfords Autocentres marketing MoT tests as “now only £29.95 RRP £54.85”.
ASA believed consumers could be mislead by the claim, “MoTs now only £29.95 RRP £54.85”, because it incorrectly referred to the £54.85 as the recommended price for an MoT. The ASA understood that although the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) set the £54.85 price as the maximum charge for MOTs, it was not the amount recommended and that not all garages charged customers this price.
Halfords said the £54.85 price was the price at which non-promotional MoTs had been sold at their 290 garages, but the ASA noted evidence was not supplied to demonstrate that this was the case.
Halfords claims did not support the argument that the £54.85 price was the price at which MoTs were generally available in the UK.
The ASA added: “Although we understood many garages decided to sell at the top VOSA price, we considered that this did not itself demonstrate that this price was an RRP or that this was the price at which MoTs were generally available.
“We considered that it was inaccurate and misleading to refer to the VOSA price as an RRP and therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.”
It appears that Halfords and the ASA have history – the retailer was criticised for its advertising, and was forced to modify an advert back in 2012. That advertisement ‘Save up to 50 per cent on main dealer pricing’ which was deemed to be misleading to motorists by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The ASA agreed.
Here are some interesting TV advertisements that were banned:
On the subject of banned advertisements, here are some with a motoring subject. My favourite on YouTube comes from Volkswagen:
And here’s another with a Halloween theme, for the Hyundai Veloster:
It seems that the advertisement defeats the purpose of safe driving.
Here’s another advertising the popular US icon, the Corvette:
It seems the advertising authority in the USA didn’t pass this commercial because it seems that there are kids doing absurd things such as driving C6 Corvettes through the sky, promoting socially irresponsible behaviour
Last up is from the 1970s, when the 1970 Dodge 500 was a dream car. The Dodge TV advertisement apparently was deemed to have too much sex appeal and the wrong social message to promote the car. What do you think:
I’m sure you’d agree it would get past the censor today!
