Interpretations !

The advertising industry exists to create favourable impressions that induce people to buy the goods they describe.  Sometimes the truth is stretched, but the industry insists on standards that ban outright falsehoods - but many claims are open to whatever interpretations exist in customers minds.

Coles has just been served with a $ 2.5 million fine by a Federal court and the final fiscal tally will be even higher when costs are taken into account.  It seems that the description of bread this grocery chain offers for sale has been found to be incorrect.    Coles advertises this bread as "Freshly Baked "and "Baked Today " and the court claims that this leaves the impression that the bread is actually fully baked in store from fresh ingredients - daily.

The fact is that this product is partly baked far removed from the actual selling place, frozen - and the baking process is finished off in the store where it is sold.   It seems that this offence comes down to the actual interpretation of what "Freshly baked "and "Baked Today "means in the minds of each individual customer.

Many would contend that if the final baking process happens on the day it is offered for sale that would satisfy both claims.  The fact that part of the preparation happened prior to that day is immaterial if the act of turning it from dough to bread happened on the day of sale - then it meets the criteria required.

It seems to involve a time factor. Partly pre-baking speeds up the in store process and allows bread fresh from the finishing oven to go on sale - and the real determining factor is price.  In the eyes of many people - bread is just bread - what matters is how cheaply it can be obtained to meet their needs and that depends in most cases on the baking skills the manufacturer applies.   There is no contention that the bread obtained by this part process is other than perfectly good bread !

Some will regard this prosecution as sheer nit picking.  We live in an ever changing world and just about every aspect of industry  is subjected to change.   The race is on to create goods at ever lower prices and to do that the manufacturing process needs to change - and in many cases - be speeded up by using unconventional methods.   Coles has found such a way to bake bread and there would have been no problem if they had not made the claim that it was "freshly baked " and " baked today ".  The claim that is incorrect is contentious, but obviously a ruling by the Federal court has not been in Cole's favour - and they have been heavily fined.

This case will certainly have all aspects of the retail industry taking a second look at their advertising claims.   One area that constantly draws attention is the use of the "Australian made " logo.   We often see that on products that also make the claim that they contain "Australian and overseas products "- and where that overseas content is somewhere about one percent.   With the interpretation of truth used in this Coles bread case, such instances could lead to a fine.

No doubt Coles will simply payup - and remove those offending signs - and still continue to offer it's bread made by finishing baking in store.    When push comes to shove, the final decision is made by the customer, and if the product looks like freshly baked bread - and smells like freshly baked bread - and tastes like freshly baked bread - then it is freshly baked bread !