- The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has deemed a Co-op advertisement, which promoted its price-match scheme with Aldi, as misleading.
- The ruling came after Aldi lodged a complaint, identifying 45 items in Co-op's August advertisement that it believed were inappropriately compared.
- The ASA found that while some products were exact matches, Co-op often compared items to similar alternatives when identical products were not available at Aldi, or even used less similar alternatives despite closer matches existing.
- Specific examples of misleading comparisons included Co-op’s Linguini Pasta being matched with Aldi’s Cucina Spaghetti, and Co-op’s Wholemeal Farmhouse Loaf with an Aldi White Farmhouse Loaf.
- The ASA concluded that the advertisement failed to clearly explain the basis of its product comparisons, leading to the misleading ruling.
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