Dyson Ltd objected to a national press advertisement for a washing machine that was headed “C”MON GIRLS, LIFE”S TOO SHORT TO SPEND IT WASHING HIS PANTS”. The advertisement stated “INDESIT WASHING MACHINES WITH TIME4YOU. A special Flash Clean programme that gives you an “A” Rated wash in just one hour …”. The complainants challenged the claim “an ”A” Rated wash in just one hour”, because their tests of that wash on the advertisers” machine took 71 minutes.
Adjudication:
Complaint upheld
The advertisers said the Flash Clean wash took 67 minutes; they sent evidence that that was the time for the full wash at the recommended temperature of 60 degrees centigrade when tested under the EN 60456 standard for domestic washing machines. The advertisers asserted that the claim complied with the EN 60456, because they believed the standard allowed manufacturers a 15% tolerance in declaring the length of their programmes.,
The advertisers sent clauses from the standard that stated that the duration of a programme should be no more than 15% longer than the value declared by a manufacturer.
The Authority took expert advice. The Authority understood that the exact time taken for the programme depended on the load and fabric and the 15% tolerance established by EN 60456 was intended to cover genuine tolerances in products and ensure that appropriate information was given on energy labels. It considered that consumers would interpret the claim as meaning the programme took close to one hour. It noted the wash took 67 minutes and considered that that was considerably longer than one hour and, because of that, the claim was misleading. It told the advertisers not to use the claim or repeat the approach in future.(A.S.A. Press release)
