ASA censures Daily Telegraph over misleading readers' offer

The Daily Telegraph has been criticised by the advertising watchdog for running a promotion that misled consumers by telling them the product was British when in fact it was from South Korea. In a Daily Telegraph readers' offer for men's pyjamas with the headline "Classic Tootal men's pyjamas", the copy said the pyjamas were "manufactured by a leading British manufacturer, Tootal". The Advertising Standards Authority received a complaint that the claim was misleading as Tootal was only a brand name, not a manufacturer, and the clothes were not made in the UK. Telegraph Media Group, publisher of the Daily Telegraph, responding in association with Tootal said it was a British company that manufactured pyjamas in its own factory in South Korea. They did not believe the claim "leading British manufacturer" suggested that Tootal manufactured in the UK, just that it pointed out that the brand is British. The ASA acknowledged that Tootal was a registered British company. However the ad did not provide information on where the pyjamas were really made. "Readers would therefore understand that the manufacture took place in the UK," said the ASA. "Because that was not the case, we concluded that the ad was likely to mislead." The ASA banned the ad. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".