A COMPLAINT against an advert by Shoprite has not been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
One person complained about a wraparound advert, which appeared in the Isle of Man Courier, which was headlined "Shop where your spend is worth £millions more to the Manx economy". The advert stated "Spend Manx at Shoprite" and "Manx Fair Trade".
The complainant challenged whether the claim "MANX FAIR TRADE" alongside a Manx flag misleadingly implied that the advertiser was certified by the Fairtrade Foundation – something the complainant understood was not the case.
In response Shoprite said that the use of words "fair" and "trade" together was not exclusive to the Fairtrade Foundation. They said that the words were also used together by the Office of Fair Trading and in government reports without referring to the Fairtrade Foundation.
The concept of Manx Fair Trade was developed by Shoprite in 2004 as a strategy to support Isle of Man famers, producers, and their suppliers. The company said there was no question of their device being confused with the current Fairtrade Foundation because the shape and size of the words and colours were different and because the Shoprite logo featured the Manx flag as well as four instances of the word "Manx".
The supermarket therefore stated that there could be no confusion with any other use of the term "Fairtrade" or a perception that it had a meaning beyond the Manx content.
Shoprite asked for the complaint to be taken in context and pointed out that it appeared on a wraparound on a free local paper and was timed to coincide with the Manx national holiday – Tynwald Day.
The ASA considered that readers would understand the claim and that it would relate solely to trade in the Isle of Man.
In a statement the ASA said: "We considered that message was re-enforced by the claim 'Spend MANX Support MANX Producers' which we considered made it clear to readers that it was asking them to spend money on local produce in order to support the Island's economy.
"We noted that the claim 'MANX FAIR TRADE' and accompanying logo employed by Shoprite was different in colour and design to that of the Fairtrade Foundation and that the words fair and trade were separated and in a different font to the compound word used by the Fairtrade Foundation.
"We therefore considered that consumers were unlikely to be confused between the two or assume from the claim that Shoprite were certified by the Fairtrade Foundation.
"We also noted that the claim appeared in a local IOM on a wraparound which was dedicated solely to the promotion of local Manx products and which included text explaining the benefits to the IOM economy of spending money on local products.
"We therefore considered that, in that context particularly, the local meaning of the claim "MANX FAIR TRADE" would be clearly understood by readers.
"Because we considered that it was clear from the ad that the claim related to a local campaign to support local producers we concluded that the claim "MANX FAIR TRADE" was not misleading."
The ASA investigated the advert under the CAP Code but did not find it in breach. No further action was taken.
