The UK’s advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority, has upheld complaints about a television advertisement by supermarket Tesco.

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An advertisement for a diet plan from Tesco claimed “Log on and you’ll get your meal plans and even your shopping list designed by a professional nutritionist”, the authority said. Eight viewers complained because the advertisement did not make clear that customers were required to pay a weekly subscription of £2.99 (US5.26) for the service.


The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre, which looks at television advertisement scripts before they are broadcast was not aware that the advertisement was for a subscription service and agreed it should have made that clear, the authority said. The advertiser and agency said that the advertisement did not claim or imply it was for a free service.


They argued that slimming services were well enough established for the majority of consumers to understand they would be expected to pay for the level of service Tesco was offering. Consumers would expect to pay for personalised slimming plans in the same way they would expect to pay for music downloads.


They felt that including the price in the advertisement would require more explanation and qualification than was practical for a 20-second television commercial. They added that the point of the advertisement was to direct viewers to the website, which clearly explained the weekly subscription fee.

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We acknowledged that the website made the cost of the service clear, the authority said. However, an advertisement may be misleading if, for example, it causes viewers to waste their time making enquiries, only to find that offers are unavailable or that there are important limitations or qualifications, which, had they known about them, would have discouraged viewers from responding. We did not agree that viewers were likely to understand from the advertisement that they would have to pay for the meal plans and shopping list. We considered the subscription an important qualification to the offer that was not made clear and therefore considered the advertisement misleading.


The advertisement was found in breach of CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code Rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.3 (Qualifications). It must not be shown again in its present form, the authority said.