ASA Adjudication on James Calthorpe MA Hons

Ad

A direct mailing for a betting tipster service consisted of a brochure and an order form. Text in the brochure stated "Who wants to be a millionaire? Follow my straightforward advice and by the end of 2006 you will make a guaranteed £110,000 or your money back ..." The brochure also contained two testimonials, one of which stated "In the last five weeks alone I've made over £21,000, without having to lay any really large bets. Your advice that the only way to win big is by placing bets on attractively priced horses at an average price of 5/1, has really worked for me." The order form stated "Trial offer until 1st July 2006 Just £39 - Usual price £339 £20,000 profit guaranteed ... Special offer until the end of the Flat season Nov 2006 Just £99 - Usual price £1539 £110,000 profit guaranteed ... Special offer until the end of the Flat season Nov 2008 Just £199 – Usual price £4239 £300,000 profit guaranteed … Special offer until the end of the Flat season Nov 2009 Just £199 – Usual price £5239 £600,000 profit guaranteed … Special offer until the end of the Flat season Nov 2010 Just £249 – Usual price £6239 £1,000,000 profit guaranteed."

Issue

1. The complainant challenged whether James Calthorpe could prove the profit claims were guaranteed.

The ASA challenged whether:

2. the testimonial of James Miller was genuine and whether it irresponsibly encouraged gambling and

3. the profit claims could be substantiated.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

James Calthorpe did not respond to our enquiries.

Assessment

Complaint upheld

The ASA was concerned by James Calthorpe's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code clause 2.6 (Non-response).  We reminded him of his responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told him to do so in future.

Because James Calthorpe did not provide us with supporting evidence, we concluded that the claims relating to profits, and the claims suggesting they were guaranteed, could not be substantiated and were therefore misleading.  Further, we were concerned that he did not submit signed and dated proof for the veracity of James Miller's testimonial and therefore considered that its inclusion in the mailing was irresponsible.  We concluded that the mailing was misleading and told James Calthorpe not to repeat the approach.

The mailing breached CAP Code clauses 2.6 (Non-response), 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), 14.1 and 14.3 (Testimonials), 17.2 (Guarantees), 32.1 (Free offers) and 54.2 (Betting and gaming).

Action

We asked CAP to inform its media members of the problem with James Calthorpe.