ASA Adjudication on The Conde Nast Publications Ltd

Ad

An ad soliciting subscriptions to House and Garden magazine stated "SUBSCRIBE TO 12 ISSUES for just £19.80 + FREE GIFT FROM MOLTON BROWN*". Images of Molton Brown toiletries appeared underneath and text beside them stated "PLUS receive a MOLTON BROWN thai vert fine liquid hand wash and soothing hand lotion (RRP £27.40) absolutely FREE*". The asterisks were linked to small print which stated "This offer is limited to UK addresses only and while stocks of the gifts last. Please allow 28 days for delivery of your free gift. Offer closes 31.03.2009".

Issue

The complainant, who took up the offer but received a decorator's notebook in lieu of the advertised Molton Brown toiletries, challenged the availability of the promotional items.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

The Conde Nast Publications Ltd t/a House and Garden (House and Garden) said they sometimes sourced partners to provide free gifts in a subscription promotion. They said, for each promotion, they made a reasonable estimate of the likely response based on the offer as well as previous reports and experience. They said a contract was then signed and supply delivered. They said stock was coded and kept separately so it could not be used for a different promotion.

In relation to the House and Garden direct mail campaign, they said they had estimated uptake based on responses to previous campaigns and sent the details to show that. House and Garden said, unfortunately, the response exceeded the estimate by over 50%. They explained that they had analysed the campaign response and had found that 24% of their orders came from customers who were not targeted and who were not therefore expected to respond to the offer. They said, although they had disclaimers on all their promotions, they could confirm that all subscribers had been offered or mailed a replacement gift. They said they took care to make sure readers were satisfied and also found suitable alternatives for subscribers who came forward to complain. They sent a report from their fulfilment bureau to show the replacement gifts used in the promotion, which they said were selected to be of equivalent value and included various brands of perfume, face-cream and make-up.

House and Garden said the decorator's notebook sent to the complainant was a limited edition notebook specifically designed for House and Garden and whilst a standard notebook of this type would retail at around £8.99, a limited edition might retail at £35. However, they agreed it should not have been used as a replacement gift as part of the promotion and said they believed it was either mailed following a handling error at the fulfilment bureau, or was an additional gift to the replacement.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the estimate for the response to the House and Garden promotion was based on previous House and Garden promotions in 2008, and, based on those figures, we considered the estimate was reasonable. However, we noted the response rate had exceeded expectation and considered that those consumers who were unable to receive the free gift from Molton Brown, as advertised, should have received a substitute gift of equivalent value. We noted substitute gifts were drawn from unexhausted stock from previous campaigns, and that some of them had an RRP of approximately £10 more than the Molton Brown gift advertised and some had an RRP of approximately £10 less. We acknowledged House and Garden's explanation that the decorator's notebook sent to the complainant as a substitute gift had been sent following a handling error, but nevertheless considered that, because not all subscribers had received a free gift of equivalent value to the Molton Brown gift advertised, the promotion had not dealt fairly with consumers.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 27.4 (Promotions: general) and 30.4 (Promotions: availability).

Action

We reminded House and Garden to ensure that, if substitute gifts were sent out due to an unexpectedly high response rate, they should be of equivalent value to the one advertised.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)