Sainsbury calls for judicial review after Tesco ad complaint is rejected

30th Oct 2013 10:45

Supermarket heavyweights Sainsbury and Tesco are set to go head-to-head in a battle over the latter's Price Promise campaign. Sainsbury has called for a judicial review after its complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority about Tesco's "misleading" campaign was rejected. While Tesco has said its campaign offers shoppers "the kind of help [they] want", Sainsbury, whose own price comparison scheme only looks at branded products, said this approach fails to take into account the key differences between own-brand products. Mike Coupe, Sainsbury's Commercial Director, said: "More than ever, customers want to let their values guide them and in price-matching its products with ours, Tesco is - when it sees fit - choosing to ignore factors such as ethical or provenance certification or even country of origin." However, a statement from Tesco's Marketing Director, David Wood, read: "Tesco Price Promise offers customers reassurance on the price of their whole shop, in store and online, not just the big brand products." NR