Wal-Mart's British Subsidiary in Trouble for Misleading Ad

Wal-Mart's Asda supermarket chain has been ordered by the UK's advertising watchdog to stop claiming it is the lowest-priced supermarket in Britain after it was found to have made a misleading ad. This ruling comes as part of a fierce price war in the UK's supermarket market, with Asda competing with market leader Tesco. Despite being forced to drop its claim, Asda still maintains it is in the right and has been nominated the lowest-priced supermarket in Britain for eight years in a row.

Key Takeaways:

• Wal-Mart's Asda supermarket chain has been ordered to stop claiming it is the lowest-priced supermarket in Britain due to a misleading ad.
• The ad was based on a magazine survey that compared the cost of a basket of 33 items across a range of supermarket chains, and Asda came out on top.
• The UK's Advertising Standards Authority ruled that the survey was not robust enough to support the claim, as supermarkets stock tens of thousands of items.
• The authority also found that the use of the word "official" was misleading, implying government endorsement.
• Asda still disputes the ruling and claims to be the lowest-priced supermarket in Britain, despite being nominated for the title in an internal competition.
• The ruling comes as part of a fierce price war in the UK's supermarket market, with Asda competing with market leader Tesco.

Statistics:

• 6 years ago, Wal-Mart bought Asda, a British supermarket chain.
• 33 items were compared in the magazine survey that Asda based its claim on.
• Tens of thousands of items are stocked by supermarkets in the UK.
• 8 years in a row, Asda has been nominated the lowest-priced supermarket in Britain.

Sources:

• "Marketplace" news bureau in London, as reported by Stephen Beard for Public Radio's daily business show "Marketplace" from American Public Media.
• Claire Forbes, spokesperson for the Advertising Standards Authority, as quoted in the "Marketplace" report.