ASA Adjudication on HCherryLondon.com

Ad

An ad, in a Japanese language newspaper, was translated by a Japanese reader as stating "British Manners Society and Tea Manners Society ... HCherry Finishing School ... Internationally accepted certificate course ... British Tea Instructor course … Table Setting course … International Manners Instructor … British Tea Manner course …".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether:

1. the certificates offered were internationally accepted; and

2. the accrediting societies were genuine.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. HCherryLondon.com (HCherry) said the certificates were private certificates, as stated on their website, but the knowledge was internationally recognised. They believed there could be some misunderstanding about the meaning of the line in question because of the absence of commas in the ad. They understood it could be translated in the way the complainant interpreted it, but said they intended it to be read another way; they said the characters were the same but the meaning differed depending on how the sentence was split.

HCherry said the course taught students the normal manners of polite society for a number of situations, including how to greet people, table manners and dress codes; they said it was not only for England, but also for other Western European countries. They said, at the end of the course, the student was given a certificate to show their attendance at the course. HCherry said they understood there was no international standard for such things.

2. HCherry said the English Manners Society and the Tea Manners Society were registered in Japan. They sent a copy of the Certificate of Registration in Japanese.

Assessment

The ASA sent the ad and registration documents to an independent translation service.

1. Upheld

We noted the translation service translated the ad as stating "Courses for qualifications recognised worldwide". We considered that that translation was similar in meaning to the complainant's translation of the ad. The translation service explained that, if the ad was translated with the meaning HCherry said they intended, it would state that the courses were recognised worldwide, rather than the qualifications. We understood that the meaning of the ad was not clear and that, as a result, readers would understand that either the courses advertised would result in successful students receiving qualifications that were internationally recognised or accepted, or that the courses themselves were internationally recognised. Because the meaning of the claim in the ad was not clear, and because HCherry had confirmed that they did not offer such internationally recognised qualifications or courses, we considered that the ad was misleading.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

2. Upheld

We noted the translation service's translation of the registration documents stated that 'English Manners Society' was registered in Japan and was classified for "The teaching of skills, sports of knowledge, the planning, management or hosting of seminars ...". We understood that the societies were therefore genuine societies registered in Japan. We considered, however, that, because the ad mentioned qualifications, readers were likely to understand from the ad that the societies were accredited to teach courses that were internationally recognised or would lead to internationally recognised qualifications. Because we understood the societies were not accredited to teach such courses, we considered that the ad was misleading.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clause 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told HCherry not to imply that their courses were internationally recognised or would lead to internationally recognised qualifications.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)