ASA Adjudication on Play Ltd

Ad

A national press ad, for Play.com, was headed "AUTUMN PRICE CRASH SAVE UP TO 80%". Below, text stated "DVDS FROM £2.99" next to pictures of the Casino Royale, Island and Hot Fuzz DVDs. Underneath, text stated "CDs FROM £2.99" and "BOOKS FROM £3.99" next to pictures of three CDs and three books. Small-print at the bottom of the ad stated "Prices are correct at time of going to press. Play.com reserve the right to change prices. While stocks last ..."

Issue

A reader believed the ad was misleading because he was unable to buy either Casino Royale or Hot Fuzz for £2.99 as claimed.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Play.com said the ad stated "From £2.99" and one of the three DVDs shown in the ad, The Island, was available at the quoted price. They believed the use of "from" negated the need to have all three titles available for £2.99. They said they deliberately used "from" in order not to mislead customers and pointed out that a third of the titles shown in the ad were available for £2.99.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the ad stated "from £2.99" and we acknowledged that this made clear that not all the DVDs in the sale would cost £2.99. However, although we noted that one of the titles was available for £2.99, we considered that, because there was no indication to the contrary, readers were likely to believe that each of the three titles shown in the ad was available for £2.99. We considered that, to avoid confusion, the ad should have included the price of each of the featured DVDs and concluded that the ad could mislead.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 15.1 (Prices).

Action

We told Play.com not to use the approach in future ads.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)