ISP director general Edwin Mutton said the action was "a last resort" in the face of repeated rejections from retailers to the trade body's invitations to discuss the issue of malredemption amicably. To date, the ISP estimates coupon malredemption is costing brands in excess of £60million a year.
"The big problem is getting the retailers to sit down and talk," Mutton said. "We don't want to go to shareholders meetings, but this is wrong. It's breaking the law."
Mutton said the ISP understood that 100 per cent coupon compliance would be difficult to achieve. He said it was acceptable if a four-pack toilet roll coupon was exchanged for a two-pack one, but that it was wrong for that same coupon to be used to redeem against "a can of beans."
He estimated that as many as 50 per cent of coupons are incorrectly redeemed and added: "There is no reason why malredemption should not be a thing of the past."
The move comes as brands seek to take advantage of a number of technological innovations allowing coupons to be issued electronically through chip-and-pin and mobile phones. Electronic coupons would ensure greater control for brands over what products they are redeemed against.
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