The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that major high street retailers John Lewis, Boots, and Debenhams misled customers with their Black Friday promotions last year. The watchdog found that these companies overstated advertised price reductions, lacking sufficient evidence to prove genuine savings against the products' usual selling prices.
Specific Examples of Misleading Deals
Specific examples included John Lewis's MacBook and ASUS laptop deals, Debenhams' “44 per cent savings” on home products, and Boots' Hugo Boss fragrance promotion. The ASA concluded that the advertised deals did not represent genuine savings, thereby misleading consumers.
ASA's Stance on Promotional Events
The ASA stressed that promotional events are not exempt from advertising rules. This ruling is part of the ASA's ongoing use of AI-powered monitoring to tackle misleading advertising.
Calls for Tighter Regulations
Consumer group Which? has called for tighter laws to ban deceptive pricing, highlighting the need for stronger consumer protections during major sales events like Black Friday.
