ASA Adjudication on Expansive Media Ltd

Ad

A national press ad was headlined "Free USB memory stick". Text below stated "TO get your FREE USB stick, enter your details online … and pay £1.99 for postage and packing. Or send [sic] self-addressed envelope with a cheque for £1.99 … ". Small print stated "Applications without an SAE will not be processed".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the memory stick could be described as free if the reader had to pay for postage and packaging.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Expansive Media and Mirror Group Newspapers said, although it had been omitted on this occasion, the ad should have included a free route, by which readers could opt to send an appropriate self-addressed envelope with stamps to the value of the cost of postage only.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the only amount published in the ad was £1.99, which was higher than the cost of postage alone.  We therefore considered the product could not be described as a "Free USB memory stick".  Because the ad did not include a genuine 'free' route, by which readers would pay no more than the minimum unavoidable cost of delivery, we concluded the ad breached the code.

The ad breached CAP Code clause 32.5 (Free offers and free trials).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.  We told Expansive Media and the Mirror not to describe products as "free" if the ad did not include a route by which readers would pay no more than the genuine minimum unavoidable cost of delivery.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)