Posted on 30 November 2025 by Jeff Fuge | Reading time 2–3 mins
Black Friday is upon us and retailers are keen to ply us with their unmissable deals. When a promo for tech retailer Currys rolled during a TV ad break, the way they presented prices and savings suddenly caught my attention. Did they really just say that? Are they actually allowed to say that?
When talking about amount you can save, the voiceover proudly announced:
“You can save up to two-hundred-and-fifty pounds on these 10 kilo LG washing machines…”.
But a different tack was taken when, following straight on from the above, he stated the price:
“… from four-one-nine.”
So, in the same sentence, two different ways of talking about three-figure sums of money. The savings in pounds sterling; the price fragmented into three separate digits.
This spins the price to feel like it’s a different, better-value currency – one where tens and hundreds don’t exist.
Enter Noah – not the biblical one, but a YouTuber with a curious online ark of Currys ads that seemed to be filmed off his telly. Niche for sure, but a handy resource as I dug further.
It turns out this difference in the articulation of the amount you can save and the amount you need to spend is commonplace in Currys ads. And, judging by some of the older ads in Noah’s collection, Curry’s have employed this approach for at least a decade.
I even saw ads where a saving of £120 is mentioned on one product, but the same figure becomes one-two-oh when it’s the price of another.
Now, Currys might argue they’re in the clear because the prices appear on screen with proper pound signs.
But here’s the thing: I wasn’t watching the screen when the ad caught my attention. As it was an ad break, I was doing something else and keeping an ear open for when my programme resumed.
I suspect I’m not alone in that: us British are famous for popping the kettle on during the ads. And what about people who are visually impaired? For anyone experiencing the advert primarily through audio, the psychological trick goes unbalanced by any visual anchor.
The UK Code of Broadcast Advertising states that advertisements must not present material information “in a way that the consumer is unlikely to see or hear it.” The Code also requires that “no advertisement may use any technique that is likely to influence consumers, without their being fully aware of what has been done.”
When the price only exists clearly on screen while the voiceover employs the verbal sleight-of-hand, it feels like Currys are sailing close to the wind on both counts.
Most viewers won’t consciously register the switch in approach from “two-hundred-and-fifty pounds” to “four-one-nine”. But that’s the point, isn’t it? At the very least, the approach feels like a hustle, and that doesn’t wash with me.
Maybe we should all head to Currys, say we want to take them up on their fantastic deal and slap fifteen one-pound coins on the counter, divided into three piles.
“There you go: four, one, nine… now where’s my washing machine?!”.