Jedward Holiday Advert Banned by ASA
A Travelsupermarket.com television advertisement featuring Jedward has been banned for being misleading in relation to the amount consumers can save by using the online holiday booking website, which is owned by Moneysupermarket.com. In the holiday ad, the popular X Factor twins are shown sitting by a swimming pool discussing how much they spent on their holidays with Omid Djalili, the comedian. One of the young men says he found his holiday at travelsupermarket.com for £200 less than what his brother paid, with a jingle adding, “Save super amounts of money at travelsupermarket.”
Members of the public and travel agents complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after the ad was aired. They said the advert exaggerated the usual amount that consumers can save using the comparison site rather than booking directly with a travel agent. They also complained that it was misleading in suggesting that it would be cheaper to book with travelsupermarket over a travel agent all the time.
However, Travelsupermarket said that they researched the deal to base the ad on reasonable fact. Comparing 5 identical holiday packages from major travel agents’ brochures, they found their prices to be £204-£400 less on a like-for-like basis. They also argued that the ad didn’t suggest that they were always cheaper.
The ASA said that they were concerned about the strength of the company’s research because of the small sample used for comparison. Travelsupermarket compared prices with travel agents’ brochures instead of online prices, the regulator noted, and they aren’t able to determine if the comparisons were done fairly since there is no additional information about the research, like when the pricing was compared. Therefore, the advert can’t be used in its current form, but the regulator added that the company never implied that they were always going to be cheaper than travel agents.