ASA Adjudication on Property Circle International

Ad

An ad in a golfing magazine, for a golfing holiday, stated “Winter accommodation/golf special (4 persons) 1st November 2006 - 31st March 2007 2 bed/2 bath apartment, on Mijas golf course, 4 rounds of golf (4 courses to choose from) plus a car waiting at airport £305 per person + flights”.

Issue

The complainant, who booked the advertised holiday, objected that the ad was misleading because it did not specify that the four rounds of golf on offer were to be split between four people, so that each person received only one round of golf.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Property Circle International (PCI) did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA was concerned by PCI's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code clause 2.6 (Non-response). We reminded them of their obligations under the Code and told them to respond promptly in future.

Because the price of the holiday was advertised per person, we considered that the four rounds of golf advertised could be interpreted as four rounds per person.   We concluded that the ad was ambiguous and likely to mislead some readers.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 2.6 (Non-response) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action

We told PCI not to repeat the ad in its current format and asked CAP to inform its media members of the problem with PCI.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)