Competitor advertising removed

The Advertising Association of South Africa (ASA) has ruled in favour of Caxton CTP Publishers and Printers over its complaint lodged last month on a flyer advertisement placed in Blu Sky Media's community newspaper, Zululand Fever.

The Directorate also notes that two disputes regarding circulation were reported to the Audit Bureau of Circulations of South Africa (ABC) on two separate occasions and that the respondent, Zululand Fever, is cautioned that these rulings may be taken into consideration for considering sanctions, should similar complaints be received or similar inaccurate circulation claims be made.

The logo of the ad stated, "Best of the Best. 4 x more exclusive readers than the nearest competitor". "The 'nearest competitor' claim was an obvious referral to the Zululand Observer community newspaper, which is distributed in the same area," says the Newspaper Advertising Bureau's joint MD John Bowles. "The claim was found to be misleading and unsubstantiated and to constitute unfair comparative advertising."

Blu Sky Media has since removed the logo and advertisement and has undertaken not to use it in its current format in the future.