ASA Adjudication on OMP International

Ad

A radio ad, for tickets to a Dionne Warwick concert from liverock.org.uk, claimed "A legend, Dionne Warwick will be performing live at London's Alexandra Palace on July 31st 2009. Her only UK performance this year, and possibly her last ever UK performance. There'll be a superstar cast of special guests too. So to see Dionne Warwick and friends live, please visit liverock.org.uk or call 020 8XXX XXXX ...". Dionne Warwick songs played in the background throughout the ad.

Issue

The complainant objected that the ad was misleading, because he paid £296.00 for four tickets to the concert and subsequently found out that Dionne Warwick was not performing at Alexandra Palace.

BCAP Radio Code

Response

Magic FM sympathised with the complainant but said they had no reason to believe, at the time of the ad's broadcast, that it contained any information which might be false or might mislead the listener.  They stated that it was a short and factual ad promoting the date of the performance, the venue and ticket details.  No ticket prices were quoted, and there was no jargon or technical information which might potentially confuse the listener.  Because they thought the ad was purely factual, Magic FM saw no reason to request clearance with the RACC (Radio Advertising Clearance Centre). They said they would have done so only if, for example, the ad contained more complicated or contentious details such as a competition mechanic.

They said they took the complaint very seriously and had carried out a thorough investigation, questioning all the departments involved in the process of clearing the ad for broadcast.  The Sales Executive who dealt with liverock.org.uk had no reason at the time to believe they were fraudulent promoters.  Magic FM had also unsuccessfully tried to contact liverock.org.uk on several occasions since receiving the complaint.

Assessment

Upheld

Although the ASA acknowledged that Magic FM had no reason to suspect that liverock.org.uk's claims were false at the time of clearing the ad for broadcast, we reminded them that the Code stated "Before accepting advertisements, Licensees must be satisfied that all descriptions and claims have been adequately substantiated by the advertiser ... all factual claims need substantiation ...".

We were concerned to note that liverock.org.uk had allowed consumers to pay for non-existent concert tickets, had not offered refunds and had not responded to enquiries from Magic FM's or the ASA.  We concluded that the ad was misleading and breached the Code.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) Radio Advertising Standards Code section 2, rule 3.1 (Misleadingness - General).

Action

The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form.  In light of what had transpired we advised Magic FM to take more care, possibly by introducing checks, when clearing similar ads from similar advertisers in future.  

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)