Tesco rapped by ad watchdog for misleading shoppers over rivals' prices

The advertising regulator has ruled that an ad campaign by Tesco that aimed to prove that rivals including Wal-Mart-owned Asda were more expensive for shoppers was misleading.

One of the Tesco ads, which ran in the national press, showed a shopping trolley full of goods with price comparisons showing that Tesco was cheaper than Asda. The ads ran with the strapline: "Why pay more at Asda?"

A second ad made a similar comparison between Tesco products and those stocked by supermarket rival Morrisons.

Both ads included a line pointing out that Tesco's trolley included products that were on promotion.

The Advertising Standards Authority received two complaints that the price comparisons were misleading and that Tesco included promotional products in its trolley.