ASA Adjudication on The Stage Newspaper Ltd

Ad

A magazine ad, for booktheact.com, stated "Want more bookings? Are you a great performer? Register with us for unrivalled exposure!"

Issue

The Modelling Information Service challenged whether the ad was misleading because:

1. it did not make clear that booktheact.com was an employment agency, and

2. it did not make clear that a fee was payable.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. The Stage Newspaper (Stage) said it was arguable whether booktheact.com was an employment agency.

2. Stage said there was no intention to mislead and anyone visiting the website would understand that it was not a free service. They offered to amend the ad to state "Free throughout beta period".

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA noted the Employment Agencies Act 1973 defined an employment agency as providing services, whether by the provision of information or otherwise, for the purpose of finding people employment or supplying employers with persons for employment. We understood that booktheact.com acted as an intermediary and allowed event organisers the opportunity to offer work through their booking system to the entertainment acts listed in its directory. Because booktheact.com was advertising the services of entertainers listed on the site to prospective bookers, we considered that booktheact.com was an employment agency and that the ad should have made this clear. Because it did not, we concluded that on this point the ad was misleading.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clause 52.3 (Employment and business opportunities).

2. Upheld

We understood that the acts listed on booktheact.com paid an annual fee to feature on the site, but event organisers could use the service for free. We noted Stage's argument that, having visited the site, users would understand that the service was not free for those acts featured on it, but we considered that this information should have been included in the ad. We also noted Stage's suggested amendment to add text stating "Free throughout beta period" while they were testing the enhanced site, but we did not consider that that was likely to be understood by most readers or, more importantly, that it would make sufficiently clear that a fee would be payable at some point in the future. We therefore concluded that on this point the ad was misleading.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 and 7.2 (Truthfulness).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)