Spicerhaart in more trouble with advertising watchdog

Industry watchdog the Advertising Standards Authority has upheld yet another complaint about Spicerhaart.

The group has had six other complaints upheld against it since last December, plus one which was not upheld, and a further four complains which were resolved informally.

This time, the complaint was to do with Spicerhaaart’s new haart ‘super-branch’ agency office in Milton Keynes, which covers a very wide area.

A leaflet contained headline text on the first page which said: “Working to get you the best possible price, in the fastest possible time, talk to haart of Shenley.”
 
The leaflet showed a man superimposed in front of a Sold sign. The text stated “Warren Brandon Shenley” and beneath the image, the text said: “Call haart of Shenley.” 

The second page explained the advantages of using haart and included the text: “The UK’s largest independent agency. We like to think of ourselves as the nation’s local estate agent and work at the centre of communities throughout the country, offering a wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise.” 

The final page said: “Call the Shenley team today to arrange your free valuation.” Under the title ‘haart of Shenley’, a contact telephone number and email address were given and underneath another title of ‘Coverage’ a further five areas and their contact details were listed.

However, a complainant objected that the advert was misleading because it implied that haart had an office in Shenley, when he believed this was not the case.

Spicerhaart Group responded that its Milton Keynes super-branch covered an extended area and, although it did not have physical branches in some locations, the central office did have specialised staff dedicated to the Shenley area.

It told the ASA that those staff spent a significant amount of their time in the area and had as great, if not greater, knowledge and commitment to Shenley than those agents who had a physical presence in that area. It also argued that the ad did not refer to a ‘Shenley Office’ and that the coverage areas clearly listed the same dialling code, indicating the central office in which it was based.

But the ASA upheld the complaint on the grounds that the leaflet made multiple references to ‘haart of Shenley’ and that most consumers would understand it to mean that haart had a branch there.

The ASA said: “We considered that the phrase was also likely to be interpreted as a play-on-words around ‘heart of Shenley’ and that consumers were likely to assume that this element of the haart group were based in the centre of Shenley.

“We considered those consumers would expect any such base to be a physical office where they could easily visit staff straight off the street or through pre-appointment. We also noted the ad pictured a specific member of the Shenley team standing in front of a sold sign which included the phrase ‘the nation’s local agent’ and the repeated phrases ‘haart of Shenley’ and ‘haart is where your home is’.”

Spicerhaart has been told not to use the literature again in its current form.