ASA Adjudication on 1083 Management (UK)

Ad

A radio ad by 1083 Management promoted a concert by Jerry Lee Lewis. The song "Great Balls of File" played in the background as a male American voice stated "The killer, the legend, the last man standing, Jerry Lee Lewis will be performing ... a UK farewell concert in London on December 3 ... For this unmissable show and final chance to see Jerry Lee in the UK call the ticket hotline on 0208 XXX XXXX Now!"

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the ad was misleading, because after contacting the advertiser to buy tickets she discovered there was no Jerry Lee Lewis concert scheduled to take place in London.

BCAP Radio Code

Response

1083 Management said the company involved in the promotion had planned the concert for the latter part of 2008. They said that due to corruption and other reasons the concert could not take place.

GCap Media said they had pulled the ad because they had not received payment from 1083 Management before the agreed deadline. They said that unfortunately some ads had already been broadcast across their Gold Network during the day before the ad was pulled, but the remainder of the booked spots were cancelled.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted 1083 Management and GCap Media's comments. Although we welcomed GCap Media's decision to pull the ad, we were concerned to note that some ads had been broadcast for a concert that had not been scheduled to take place. We concluded the ad was misleading.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) Radio Advertising Standards Code rule 2 section 3 (Misleadingness).

Action

The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)