Tesco ad was likely to mislead readers

Tesco has come under criticism from the Advertising Standards Authority following the publication of a press ad relating to one of its stores in Bangor, north Wales.

The ad stated “Water from your local springs, wine form your local vineyards and vegetables from your local farms, now available from your local Tesco.” Text at the foot of the page read “Caenarfon road, Bangor” and listed the opening times of the store.

One local reader challenged the truthfulness of the advert as he didn’t believe the produce show in the advert was local to Bangor.

Tesco claims that the ad was to coincide with their Bangor store promotion, “Enjoy the taste of Wales,” and was designed to raise awareness of the number of Welsh sourced products they stocked.

A Tesco spokesperson said, “We have Welsh suppliers for all the products featured in the ad, the aim was to increase customers’ awareness of the Welsh products available in the store,”

According to the retailer surveys among customers in Bangor had shown that local food was important to them.

Tesco had also commissioned a national survey to determine how customers determined the word “local” and while 10% of the participants of the survey were Welsh, most of these people determined local to refer to their country or region.

The ASA however, considered that readers were likely to refer to local as their immediate or surrounding region and as the products used in the ad – although Welsh sourced – were not specifically local to Bangor, the ad was likely to mislead readers.

Local food is a very hot topic at present, but how do you define “local.” Have your say on the forums