ASA Adjudication on CC Automotive Group Ltd

Ad

A radio ad for Carcraft stated “Finance subject to status. Terms and conditions apply. APR 12.6%. Example cash price £3,499. £99 deposit. Credit £3,400. 260 weekly payments of £16.67. Admin fee £250. Total amount payable £4,683.20. Typical 19.9%APR”. Another voice then stated “Fuel Costs up. Road tax up. Insurance, MOTs, car repairs up". Music began to play as the voice-over continued " It’s not all bad news, at Carcraft buying one of our nearly new cars could actually cost less than running your old car … Cars from under £20 a week … Just £99 or your old car as deposit ... Where the savings you make could help pay for your next car ... Drive away in an hour. Just bring your driving licence and two proofs of address ... Easy to find and nearer than you think. Carcraft Wednesbury Birmingham … open till nine tonight”.

Issue

A listener believed the presentation of the ad was confusing and misleading, because details of the available credit terms, which were more commonly stated at the end of an ad, were stated at the beginning, before its main message.  They believed it was unclear whether those finance details applied to the current or previous ad.

BCAP Radio Code

Response

Carcraft explained that radio ads were frequently broadcast as standard practice with finance details at the beginning.

The Radio Advertising Clearance Centre (RACC) endorsed Carcraft's comments.  They believed it was clear that the finance details at the start of the ad, despite their being stated in a different style and tone, were connected and relevant to the subsequent offer of a car for under £20 per week and, in their view, listeners were also likely to understand that.  They pointed out that the example cash price quoted could only relate to a car and listeners of commercial radio were accustomed to hearing hundreds of car ads, which included similar, legally required information.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted advertisers were legally obliged to include specific terms of any finance package they advertised, for example a typical APR in most cases, and considered that on this occasion the finance details were clearly audible.  

We considered, however, that the link between the finance details and the remainder of this ad might not be instantly recognised, partly because the voice-over between the two sections differed in tone; the finance details were spoken in a businesslike way, whereas the rest of the ad was more lighthearted, and the two were spoken by different voices.  In addition, no reference was made to Carcraft at the start of the ad, when the finance details were spoken, to indicate to listeners that the two parts of the ad were connected.  We considered, therefore, that listeners were unlikely to realise that the finance details were connected to the subsequent material.  

We noted that the second part of the ad claimed "Cars from under £20 a week ... Just £99 or your old car as deposit".  We considered, therefore, that the finance details (which included the typical APR, example cash price, monthly repayments and admin fee) were important information for listeners in deciding whether to partake of the offer.  We concluded that it was not clear that the finance details related to the Carcraft offer of a car for under £20 a week and the ad was misleading.

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

Action

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

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)