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NAD supports Subway's challenge of Domino's taste test claim
June 7, 2009
NEW YORK — The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better BusinessBureaus has recommended Domino's modify or discontinue certain advertising claims for its "OvenBaked" sandwich products.
NAD, the advertising industry's self-regulatory forum, requested substantiation for certain claims
made in broadcast advertising, following a challenge by the Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund
Trust. Claims at issue included:
- "Domino's oven baked sandwiches beat the taste of Subway's 2 to 1."
- "The scrumptious taste of Domino's oven baked sandwiches beat Subway's in a national tastetest 2 to 1."
- "Domino's oven baked sandwiches beat Subway's in a national taste test 2 to 1.
Following its review of the advertising, NAD determined that, on balance, consumers could reasonablyinterpret that Domino's, as a whole, beat the challenger's products (both toasted and untoasted subs) in a national taste test, a broader claim than the onesupported by the evidence.
Recommendations
NAD recommended that Domino's modify such comparisons to qualify, up front, that the object of
comparison is the advertiser's "Oven Baked" sandwiches and the challenger's "Fresh Toasted"
sandwiches, rather than Subway's entire sandwich line.
NAD noted that Subway's menu of Fresh Toasted sandwiches changed significantly during the
course of the NAD proceeding. NAD concluded that while the advertiser possessed a reasonable
basis for its taste preference claims at the time the challenge was filed, that evidence was
insufficient to support an "Oven-Baked" vs. "Fresh-Toasted" claim given the changes in the
challenger's menu.
NAD recommended that the challenged commercials be discontinued or modifiedto make a more limited-taste preference claim, expressly limited to the specific sandwiches tested.Further, NAD determined that the disclosure explaining the basis of the taste-test was insufficient to
adequately qualify the challenged commercials' overarching message of taste comparison betweenDomino's and "Subway's.
Domino's, in its advertiser's statement, said it would "take NAD's recommendations into account forits future advertising, including modifications in light of Subway's changes to its product line."
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