ASA Adjudication on Busch Entertainment Corporation

Busch Entertainment Corporation t/a Busch Gardens

2nd Floor
Kent House
14-17 Market Place
London
W1W 8BY

Date:

20 September 2006

Media:

Television

Sector:

Holidays and travel

Number of complaints:

Agency:

DDB London

Complaint Ref:

117767

A TV ad for Busch Gardens, Florida, featured a number of shots of the adventure park. The voice-over said "For ticket information and your free DVD call Virgin Holidays now on 0871 ..." The telephone number also appeared on screen. Text said "National call rates apply".

Issue

Two viewers said that, because national and local call rates no longer existed and 0871 numbers had never been classified as national rate, it was unclear how much a call to the advertiser would cost. They believed the ad might confuse and mislead viewers.

Response

DDB London said the ad was one they had used before and they had been unaware of the change to national and local call rates implemented since it was originally made. They said the change had not been pointed out to them when they re-submitted the script for approval. They apologised for the mistake and said that, if the ad was shown again, it would be amended to remove the reference to national call rates and include details of the cost of the call.

The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) said the ad should not have included the on-screen text "National call rates apply". They explained that the ad was an old one which had been re-submitted for approval because of a minor change. They were unaware of the on-screen text as it was not included in the script, and they unfortunately missed it when they saw the finished ad. They said they had not been informed by the company running the phone line that the national call rate was no longer relevant.

Assessment

Complaints upheld

The ASA acknowledged the quick action taken by the agency to amend the ad in case it was used again. However, we considered that at the time the ad was broadcast, it had given a confusing and misleading impression of how much a call would cost. We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading. The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.3 (Qualifications).