ASA Adjudication on Damartex UK Ltd

Ad

A mailing, from Damart, claimed “Your smart and elegant Anne de Lançay coat is impeccably designed And it’s absolutely FREE!” and featured photographs of a blue coat.

Issue

The complainant, who believed that the coat shown in the mailing was of higher quality than the one she received as a free gift, challenged the authenticity of the photographs used in the mailing.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Damart said they had previously sent a mailing that featured the Anne de Lancay (ADL) coat as a free gift to 50,000 customers to test demand; from the response to that promotion they estimated that they would receive five per cent more replies to the ADL mailing than they received from their normal mailings. They said they normally ordered 144,000 gifts for a mailing and had ordered 153,000 ADL coats to meet the anticipated demand. They said demand for the ADL coats had exceeded supply and they had not been able to order more. They said they had sent a similar coat made by Damart to respondents who did not receive an ADL coat. They said they would provide a sample of the ADL coat to the complainant as a gesture of goodwill.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA considered that Damart had reasonable grounds for believing that they could satisfy the likely demand. We noted that they had offered respondents an alternative gift when ADL coats were not available and that the complainant would be sent an ADL coat as a gesture of goodwill.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 30.1, 30.2, 30.4 (Availability) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)