ASA Adjudication on Grimes

Ad

A recruitment press ad, for a home working scheme, was headlined "EARN £500.00+ PER WEEK". Text below stated "Part time at home! Filling envelopes/mailing circulars, etc. Great Job Opportunity. Easy work. Start now. Long established company. Suitable for everyone. Free details - "GRIMES" Kemp House, Suite 250 … LONDON … Or for fast service TEXT name, address and postcode to- XXXXX XXX XXX".

The follow-up literature included a brochure with an application form and a booklet. Text in the brochure stated "Earn Over £500 Plus Weekly Part Time From Home! Filling Envelopes For Our Company We Pay You £1.70 For Every One You Do! All business can be done by MAIL … You can START THE SAME DAY you receive the instructions and begin RECEIVING MONEY WITHIN AS LITTLE AS A WEEK. You will be supplied with the materials to be stuffed, envelopes will be already stamped and addressed. This National Mail-Order Company that you will receive your materials from is Grimes Marketing Co. … "; "In order to get you started immediately:- please fill in the Application Form enclosed and send it back to us as soon as possible. We require a small, fully refundable Starter-Pack deposit of only (£55.00) £29.95. You will NOT be required to pay us for any further information or instructions as once you have shown us you have the genuine desire to work by applying to us, the idea is for us to pay you lots of cash for your efforts … As soon as you have submitted your first 25 envelopes by following the simple plan instructions (yes, only your first 25 envelopes) we will REFUND in full your deposit for this programme. Guaranteed … ". Text below a table of example fees stated "These are GUARANTEED figures and just 500 envelopes at our pay rates would earn you as much as £850.00!!".

The booklet, which was a starter pack sent in a handwritten envelope by a company called 'Solihull Press', included text that stated "Get Paid £1.70 For Every Single Addressed Envelope You Send To Us. Everything You Need Is Included Here - Start and Earn The Extra Money You Need Instantly!"; "It is simply not good enough for a modern business to have formidable products - if we do not know where the people are who may benefit from them. This is where you come in by sending us as many S.A.E's [sic] from your area (or beyond) as you want … "; "All we ask you to do is send us the stamped addressed envelopes of people who may wish to take advantage of our various money-making offers & self-help publications"; ... "There are 4 authorised methods that you can use to attract the interest you need. Each of them is well-established and has proven to be successful in generating enquiries. All three [sic] methods can be used on a long term basis, and can be operated at a level that suits you, depending on how much you want to earn … Method 1: Simple press advertisements … Method 2: Easy leaflet drops … Method 3: Display cards … Method 4: The internet … ".

Issue

The complainant, who had expected the work to involve envelope filling but found that it consisted of placing ads that asked consumers to send an S.A.E. for information on home work, objected that the ad and brochure:

1. did not make clear the nature of the work;

2. did not state that there were costs involved in obtaining the S.A.E.s; and

3. implied work was available when the starter pack booklet suggested that was not the case.

The ASA challenged:

4. that the ad did not state that a refundable fee was payable;

5. whether Grimes could substantiate the claim that respondents could earn "£500.00+ PER WEEK", and

6. whether the ad was for a pyramid promotional scheme and therefore whether it should have been advertised at all.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Grimes did not respond to our enquiries.

Assessment

1.   - 6. Upheld

The ASA was concerned by Grimes 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 responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.

Grimes did not provide evidence to show that the ad was for either a home working scheme where respondents were paid to fill envelopes or a pyramid scheme where consumers paid for the opportunity to receive compensation that was derived primarily from the introduction of others into the scheme.

We considered that consumers responding to the ad and follow-up literature would expect work that involved filling envelopes and would not expect to have to place ads themselves.  We noted however that the booklet asked recipients to place ads, at their own expense, in shop windows or newspapers, as well as on the internet and via door drops, stating, for example, "HOMEWORKERS WANTED!  Earn extra cash from the comfort of your own home.  Free details to anyone who send [sic] an S.A.E. to: (YOUR ADDRESS HERE)".  It also included examples of such ads and recommended where to place them for the best results.  If the home worker received any replies, he or she was required to forward them to Grimes to receive subsequent payment.  We considered it was likely that consumers were paying £29.95 for the opportunity to receive compensation that was derived primarily from the introduction of other consumers into the scheme.  We therefore considered it was very likely that Grimes was operating a pyramid scheme.

Although text in the ad implied the scheme on offer involved payment for stuffing envelopes at home, we were concerned that the follow-up materials strongly suggested the ad was for a pyramid scheme, the marketing of which is prohibited under Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) and the CAP Code.  In the absence of any evidence from Grimes to the contrary, we concluded that the ad was very likely to be for a pyramid scheme and, if that was the case, it should not have been advertised at all.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 2.6 (non-response) and 52.8 (Pyramid schemes).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We asked CAP to inform their media members of the problem with Grimes.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)