ASA Adjudication on West 1 Casting Ltd

Ad

a. A regional press ad for West 1 Casting Ltd stated "MODELS & EXTRAS Do you think you have the necessary qualities to be a model or extra? If so come along to THE QUALITY HOTEL ... FOR A FREE PHOTO TEST SHOT & PHOTOGRAPH WE ARE LOOKING FOR CHILDREN 1-12 YEARS FOR: CATALOGUE, PHOTOGRAPHIC & FILM/TV, EXTRA WORK TEENAGERS 13-17 YEARS FOR: CATALOGUE, PHOTOGRAPHIC, FILM/TV, EXTRA WORK, FASHION & CATWALK ADULTS 18-75 YEARS FOR: CATALOGUE, PHOTOGRAPHIC, FILM/TV, EXTRA WORK, FASHION & PROMOTIONAL WORK. For placement with UK Agencies - No experience necessary" Small text at the bottom of the ad stated the website address www.makemeastar.me.uk and "(agy: cost occur)".

b. A leaflet for those attending was headed "west 1." It stated "We would like to introduce West 1, one of the UK's Top Management Companies for Modelling, Fashion, Catwalk, Catalogue, Film, Television, Stage Acting, Dance and Promotional Work for all ages ... Just a few of the recent credits/castings our agencies have are as follows: - Film/T.V.: - Hollyoaks / BBC ITV CHANNEL 4 / 5 SKY & FILMS. Commercial Photographic: Boots; Littlewoods; Coca Cola; Marks & Spencers; J.D. Sports; Carlsberg; Toni & Guy; NSPCC; Daily Mirror; McDonalds; Nike; Oil of Olay; Kelloggs.

Issue

Clive Hurst and three members of the public challenged:

1. whether ad (a) made the identity of the advertiser sufficiently clear;

2. whether ad (a) made it sufficiently clear that successful applicants would be charged a fee and

3. whether the advertiser could substantiate the list of credits and castings in ad (b).

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. West 1 Casting Ltd said they understood from a previous ASA investigation of one of their ads that their website address was sufficient to identify them as the advertiser. They said they had received confirmation from the ASA (in conjunction with CAP Copy Advice) that the amended text of that ad identified them sufficiently. They said the investigated ad therefore contained a website address that linked to West 1's website and also an information line telephone number, calls to which would have confirmed the advertisers identity. They accepted that the title of the website address shown in the ad was different from their trading name and undertook to remedy that in future, but believed the telephone number and website address were sufficient to identify West 1 as the advertiser.

2. West 1 said they believed a previous ASA investigation had established that those attending the event received a free photograph and were not obliged to pay a fee if they were accepted by West 1 for promotion to agencies. They said that following that investigation they had agreed wording with the ASA (in conjunction with CAP Copy Advice) to make clear that those who were accepted by West 1 for promotion to agencies and who agreed to join needed to pay a fee. They said the wording that had been agreed was "(Agency: costs apply.)" They accepted that it was abbreviated in the investigated ad to "(agy: cost occur)" but they did not consider the abbreviation was significant. They believed the ad made it sufficiently clear that those wishing to use the agency placement service needed to pay a fee.

3. West 1 supplied copies of correspondence with modelling and casting agencies in which those agencies agreed to receive details of artists from West 1 for possible acceptance on to their books. West 1 also supplied documentation listing the clients with whom the modelling and casting agencies had successfully placed artists.

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA acknowledged West 1's comments but we noted that in a previous investigation we had told West 1 that their identity needed to be clearly stated in their ads. In conjunction with CAP Copy Advice we had approved wording that contained their trading name in their website address. However, in the investigated ad the website address did not include West 1's trading name. We considered that a website address that did not include West 1s trading name was not sufficient to identify them as the advertiser and also considered it was not sufficient for readers to need to call a telephone number or access a website to establish conclusively the identity of an advertiser. We welcomed West 1s undertaking to include their trading name in their website address in future ads and considered that that would be sufficient to identify them as the advertiser.

On this point the ad breached CAP Code clause 52.3 (Employment and Business Opportunities).

2. Upheld

We acknowledged that we had already established in the previous investigation that there was no charge for the test shot and photograph and that neither we nor the complainants had challenged that point in the investigated ad. The point investigated was whether the ad made it sufficiently clear that successful applicants would be charged a fee. West 1 had said that those they accepted for promotion to agencies were not obliged to pay a fee to West 1, but we noted that they would not pay a fee only if they were accepted but did not go ahead. Those who were accepted and who then agreed to go forward for promotion to agencies, which we considered would be the main reason most people would apply, were obliged to pay a fee to West 1. We had previously agreed with West 1 that the wording "(Agency: costs apply)" made it sufficiently clear that those who subsequently joined West 1 needed to pay a fee. We did not consider, however, that the wording "(agy: cost occur)" made that sufficiently clear and told West 1 to include the wording in full - "(Agency: costs apply)" - in their future ads to make the nature of the service and the requirement to pay a fee sufficiently clear.

On this point the ad breached CAP Code clause 7.1 (Truthfulness).

3. Not upheld

We noted the documentation West 1 had supplied showed they had a relationship with the modelling and casting agencies listed in the ad; that those agencies agreed to receive details of artists from West 1 for possible acceptance on to their books and that the agencies had between them successfully placed artists in the productions listed in West 1s ad.

On this point we investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness) but did not find it in breach.

Action

We welcomed West 1s undertaking to include their trading name in their future ads. We told them to seek CAP Copy Advice before advertising again.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)