ASA Adjudication on GRI Team International

Ad

A classified internet ad for a Business Development Manager stated "Salary £35,000 - £60,000 OTE (performance driven) ... Job Type Permanent jobs ... Permanent positions ... Chance of International travel, car and profit sharing programmes". Text underneath stated "... We are not a conventional company. By working together as a team of independent individuals, following a proven business and marketing system, and with a self - employed contract we will provide you with full training and support programme [sic] ..."

Issue

One reader, who had attended an interview with GRI Team International, challenged whether the ad was misleading because there was not a permanent position available.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

GRI Team International said that they had not advertised a job but a business opportunity and were looking for five people to work with them on a self-employed basis. They believed that, because people in their organisation often held such roles for long periods of time, this amounted to a permanent position. They added that the jobsite template only offered the choice of temporary or permanent and, because they were looking for people to work with them on a permanent basis, they chose the latter.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA believed that the headline "Business Development Manager" and the statements "Salary £35,00 - £60,000 .... Job Type Permanent jobs" would be interpreted by readers to mean that a salaried permanent position was on offer within a company, rather than an opportunity to work for a long period of time on a self-employed basis. While we acknowledged that text further down the ad referred to "a self - employed contract" we considered that marketers should distinguish clearly between offers of employment and business opportunities. Because the ad overtly described the opportunity both as a permanent position with a salary and a self-employed role, we considered that it did not clearly distinguish which type of opportunity it was and therefore had the potential to mislead.

The ad breached CAP Code Clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 52.1 (Employment and business opportunities)

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)