Poundworld's 'everything £1' slogan banned by watchdog after £3 item is spotted by shopper

ASA rules "everything £1" claim was misleading after eagle-eyed shopper spots £3 and £8.99 items

(Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Poundworld has been banned from using its "everything £1" slogan by the advertising watchdog after a customer with an eye for detail spotted a £3 item.

The shopper lodged a complaint after seeing two "manager special" items for for £3 and £8.99 respectively.

The Advertising Standards Authority upheld the complaint and ruled the "specials" amounted to misleading advertising since the company's slogan claims all products are sold for £1.

"We considered that a significant draw of the claim would be that consumers would expect to pay no more than £1 for any of the items in the store, " the ASA said. "Because that was not the case, we concluded that the claim was misleading."

Poundworld argued the specials were "occasional" offers which usually ran during the Christmas selling period and at random and infrequent intervals for the remainder of the year.

"However, occasionally we see a one-off product that is incredible value costing over the single price point that we believe our customers would like to see on sale. These offers are clearly marked as "manager's specials" and are in no way designed to confuse or mislead our customers."