ASA Adjudication on Play Ltd

Ad

An e-mail, for Play.com, featured the subject heading "Play.com: Summer Sale - Price Meltdown Now On!". The body copy of the e-mail featured the headline "MELTDOWN DEALS" and a number of text boxes listing different product categories such as DVDs, games and books. One box featured a picture of three characters from the Harry Potter films with the text "Blu-rays from £7.99".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that a Harry Potter film would be available on Blu-ray for £7.99.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Play.com (Play) believed the use of the prefix "from" in the claim "Blu-rays from £7.99" indicated that it was the starting price of Blu-rays included in the "Meltdown" offer. They believed consumers would understand that, while some Blu-rays would be priced at £7.99, others would be more expensive.  Of a range of 533, 68 Blu-rays were available at £7.99; 13% of promotional items were therefore available at the "from" price.

Play pointed out that the e-mail had not shown a specific Harry Potter movie case; the image was simply used to promote Blu-rays generally, as indicated by the wording of the banner.  They said one Harry Potter film was available at a reduced price of £9.99 and the graphic was simply used to show that there was a Harry Potter film included in the "Meltdown" offer.  Play said, where specific products were on offer at a particular price, the e-mail made that clear.  However, in other cases, they used a generic graphic to promote a category of products, as they had done with the Harry Potter graphic.  Play reiterated their belief that the use of "from" would have made clear to consumers that a Harry Potter Blu-ray was not necessarily available at £7.99.

Play pointed out that the promotion was communicated by e-mail and therefore, unlike with a press ad, the consumer was able to click through to immediately determine the price at which the product was on offer.  They disagreed that the e-mail was misleading.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the e-mail stated "Blu-rays from £7.99" and noted 13% of promotional items were available at the stated "from" price.  We accepted that recipients would understand from the prefix "from" that not all Blu-rays included in the "Meltdown" offer would be priced at £7.99 and that some films included in the promotion would be available at a higher price.  

We noted the e-mail had not shown a specific Harry Potter movie case.  We nevertheless considered that, on account of the Harry Potter image next to the text "Blu-rays from £7.99", recipients were likely to expect at least one Harry Potter Blu-ray to be available at £7.99.  Although Play argued that the pricing information was only a click away, we considered that that action did not nullify the misleading impression given by the ad.  We understood that, when the complainant clicked on the link, he found a Harry Potter box set available at £39.99 and, elsewhere on the site, found Harry Potter films priced at £9.99, but was disappointed to find none at £7.99.  We therefore concluded that the e-mail was misleading.

The e-mail breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 and 7.2 (Truthfulness) and 15.1 (Prices).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.  

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)