ASA slams confusing Match & More

Morrisons has been ordered to clarify the way it compares prices with other supermarkets under its Match & More loyalty scheme following a raft of complaints from consumers and rival Aldi.
In total the Advertising Standards Authority received 19 complaints, sparking a ten-month investigation.
The issue centred on a TV campaign for the loyalty card starring Ant and Dec and a four-page press ad, both of which claimed Morrisons was “the only supermarket to price match Aldi and Lidl…and Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda.”
Five separate issues were investigated, four of which the ASA rejected including a £15 minimum spend; that credit would be awarded in points not cash; and that the points were awarded for the overall difference on an entire shop not individual items.
However on the main complaint – and by far the most crucial – the ASA ruled that Morrisons did not make clear how Match & More actually worked or that some product comparisons were so different that they rendered any comparison misleading.
Tony Baines, a managing director of buying at Aldi, said: “Our own analysis shows that the Morrisons Match & More scheme did not price-match Aldi. In our view, complex price promotions and price-matching schemes of this nature are confusing, are not transparent and do not serve the best interests of consumers.”
However, perhaps unsurprisingly, Morrisons group corporate services director Martyn Jones took a rather different view. He said: “The decision by the Advertising Standards Authority confirms the integrity of our price matching against our competitors, including Aldi.”

1 Comment on "ASA slams confusing Match & More"