The advertising in question featured a bar graph that referenced results of the 2009 Luth Research Study on Customer Satisfaction. The graph depicts ProFlowers with the tallest bar and 1-800-Flowers and FTD with sequentially smaller bars. NAD noted in its decision that although there is no per se requirement that bar graphs must be demarcated with numbers, graphs must accurately represent the data on which they are based.
In the absence of consumer perception evidence, NAD steps into consumers’ shoes to
determine the messages reasonably conveyed by an advertisement. NAD determined that
the relative heights of the columns in the advertiser’s bar graph would indicate that
ProFlowers’ customers are substantially more likely to recommend ProFlowers versus other companies, a message that was not support by the results of the Luth Study. NAD
recommended that the advertiser either discontinue the graph or that it modify the graph to accurately communicate the study’s results.
NAD determined that the advertiser’s claims that ProFlowers’ customers recommend it more than “any other online flower delivery company” and that ProFlowers’ customers are more likely to recommend it “versus another company” are unsubstantiated industry-wide
superiority claims. NAD recommended that the advertiser either discontinue these claims or modify them to make clear that the claims are limited to a comparison between ProFlowers’ customers and those of 1-800-Flowers and FTD.
NAD further determined that consumers could reasonably take away the implied but
unsupported message that ProFlowers’ flowers are fresher than FTD’s flowers. NAD
recommended that the advertiser modify advertising to avoid conveying this implied
message.
NAD also recommended that the advertiser discontinue the unsupported claim that studies have shown its customers “know a good value when they’ve found one.”
With respect to the Wall Street Journal’s 2006 “Best Value” claim, NAD recommend that the advertiser should make clear that the “best value” rating relates only to its roses, and modify its advertising such that the rating does not appear in close proximity to
comparative claims regarding 1-800-Flowers and FTD.
Finally, with regard to the claim, “ProFlowers is America’s #1 choice for roses, orchids, lilies, flower bouquets & gifts delivered,” the advertiser asserted that the claim appeared at thirdparty Websites, outside its control – a position the challenger disputed. NAD recommended that the advertiser continue making its best efforts to ensure that the claim is discontinued.
Provide, in its advertiser’s statement, said that it would “ensure any future use of the bar graph and related text depicting its Luth Survey results are proportionally depicted, are noted to be limited to comparisons of Provide to FTand 1-800-Flowers only, and did not directly measure perceptions of freshness or value.”
