Tupperware Southern Africa has been told to withdraw an advertisement in their brochure immediately - calling it as misleading.
The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) made the judgment on Monday.
Deena Pillay criticised about an offer in Tupperware Southern Africa’s pamphlet for a Space Saver Oval Set of containers‚ for R399.
It reads: “KEEP IT FRESH. Space Saver Oval Set.”
It states the set consists of:
- Space Saver Oval 3 (1.7L)
- Space Saver Oval 4 (2.3L)
- Free 2 X Space Saver Oval 1 (500ml)
- Free Space Saver Oval 2 (1.1L)
- Free Space Saver Oval 5 (2.9L)
At the bottom of the page, there is a table with the different products‚ colours‚ sizes and prices.
Pillay said the pamphlet was “untruthful‚ misleading and has omitted crucial information”.
“If you calculate all the individual prices of the advertised Tupperware‚ it would add up to R399‚; therefore, you are actually paying for all the oval containers, and nothing is for free,” Pillay said.
The regular selling price is not shown on the page.
Tupperware Southern Africa’s argued that promotions are compared to the regular selling price to show the saving or discounted value.
But the ASA hit back.
“The only pricing that appears on the advertising is the sale pricing. If one were to buy only Oval 3 and 4 on the sale (the items that are not ‘free’), one would pay R141. To buy all 5 items‚ one must pay R399. Therefore‚ in the context of the sale pricing‚ which is the only pricing in the advertising‚ the remaining items are indeed not ‘free’.”
The ASA added: “The table of pricing would have shown the normal‚ non-sale prices. This is not the case.”
The ASA ruled the advert was misleading‚ because the “free” items were not free.
