Asda has kicked off a price war on toys in the run up to the crucial festive period as it launches a new TV ad campaign that takes it head-to-head with Argos.

Asda said it is seeking to “expose higher prices on non food ranges” in the run up to Christmas, and said the toys ad will be the “first of many” comparison adverts that will focus on branded non food products and “help strengthen Asda’s goal of becoming the number one non-food retailer”.

The toys ad will air tomorrow (Wednesday) and is designed to “highlight the wide gap between Asda and Argos’ prices”.

Asda said it is “officially kick starting the toy price war” with the move. The grocer said it is cheaper on 77% of toy lines. For instance, it claims the ‘V-Tech’ Baby Walker’ is being sold in Asda for £20, while Argos sells it for £27.

The grocer has used information from independent non-food price check website Skuuudle. It said that it allows customers “for the first time to compare the prices of hundreds of popular toys from Mattel, Hasbro, Lego, Little Tikes, MB and Disney”.

Asda recently revealed it would invest more than £10m to “slash” the prices on nearly 200 lines in ‘The Big Toy Rollback Event’.

Asda head of pricing Mark Kupelian said: “On behalf of shoppers we are offering a service that provides transparent pricing for the first time ever on children’s toys.

“Everyone deserves the perfect Christmas, and so we promise we will do everything in our power to help show families how to save money and this campaign is a great start to doing exactly that.”

Asda is also launching its first ever Christmas gift guide, distributing eight million copies of the 204 page catalogue in stores up and down the country.

The catalogue will include Christmas decorations, homewares, electronics, healthy and beauty products, George, books, games and consoles as well as toys.

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