ASA Adjudication on NMG Ltd

Ad

A direct mailing, for website domain names, in the form of an invoice was headed "REMINDER". Below, it stated "We noticed that your payment for the top domain package has not yet been received. If you have already sent a payment, please disregard this notice and accept our thanks.” Beneath the total payable of 229 Euros, text stated "This is a solicitation on a previously sent offer, there is no obligation to pay". Details of how to pay by credit card, BACS transfer or PayPal were included.

Issue

A recipient believed the mailing was dishonest and misleading, because it appeared to be an invoice requiring payment and implied they had purchased a domain name when they had not.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

NMG explained that they contacted potential customers with a tailored offer to register and redirect available domain names.  They said, if they did not receive a response from the potential customer, they would send the direct mail "REMINDER" to bring to their attention that the offer was about to expire.  They believed the reminder clearly stated that there was no obligation to pay, but acknowledged that it contained a payment instruction.  They said, in order to avoid any possible misunderstanding in the future, they were considering amending the "REMINDER" to include details of the original offer.  They said they would also seek advice to ensure compliance with the CAP Code and until such measures were in place, they would not use the mailing again.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the mailing closely resembled an invoice and considered recipients were likely to infer from the claims "Total payable" and "How to pay" that they were required to pay the quoted amount.  We noted small print in the mailing stated "This is a solicitation on a previously sent offer, there is no obligation to pay" but considered it could easily be overlooked and was not sufficient to remove the impression that the mailing was a genuine invoice, which it was not.  We concluded that the mailing was misleading and did not make sufficiently clear that it was a marketing communication.  

The mailing breached CAP Code clauses 6.1 (Honesty), 7.1 and 7.2 (Truthfulness), 22.1 (Recognising marketing communications) and 42.9 (Distance selling).

Action

We welcomed NMGs withdrawal of the mailing and advised them to consult the CAP Copy Advice team before advertising again.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)