ASA Adjudication on Npower Ltd

Ad

A national and regional press ad, a TV ad and a website promotion for npower:

a. the press ad stated "Existing customers can fix for free. Now existing npower customers can fix their energy prices at no extra cost ... for free until April 2009". Small-print at the bottom of the ad stated "Conditions and exclusions apply. Subject to V.A.T and regulatory charges";

b. the TV ad stated "Here's something just for our existing customers. Fix your gas and electricity prices for free until 31 March 2009." Text on-screen stated "Domestic Duel fuel. Direct debit. Limited availability. Excludes certain tariffs. Doesn't include rises imposed by other authorities";

c. the website promotion stated "Our customers can fix for free. Every now and again, we like to do something for our customers to show you how much you're valued. That's why we're offering all existing n-power customers the chance to fix energy prices until 31st March 2009 without paying a premium."* The asterisk was linked to a footnote stating "Terms and conditions" which customers had to click through to.

Issue

1. All the complainants objected that the claim "fix for free" was misleading because some existing customers had to switch to a higher tariff to take advantage of the offer.

2. Many complainants objected that ads (a) and (c) were misleading they did not make the terms and conditions of the offer clear.

3. One complainant objected that ad (b) was misleading because the voice-over gave the impression the offer was available to all existing customers, which he believed was contradicted by the on-screen limitations.

BCAP TV Code

Response

1. RWE npower (npower) said the words "fix for free" carried the clear meaning that there was no additional charge for fixing prices. They said there were tariffs in the energy market, whether available from themselves or from other suppliers, where a charge for fixing unit prices was applied. They said that, to the extent that conditions applied to the price fix referred to in this campaign, there were clear footnotes in each ad stating that conditions applied.

Clearcast responded on this point in respect of TV ad (b). They said they believed the words "fix for free" meant there would be no charge for taking up the service, and they were satisfied that was the case.

2. In relation to press ad (a) and website promotion (c), npower said that ad (c) contained a clear reference to terms and conditions, and these were only one click away. Nevertheless, they said they had modified the ad, changing "all existing npower customers" to "existing npower customers" and "Terms and conditions" to "Terms and conditions and exclusions apply". They said they believed the wording of ad (a) made clear that the offer applied to existing, rather than new, customers only and considered the additional footnote clarified that conditions and exclusions applied. They said they believed this combination of words made the parameters of the offer clear.

3. In relation to TV ad (b) Npower said they believed it was not uncommon to qualify offers that were seemingly available to all with a condition that excluded certain applicants. They said on-screen text made it clear that limitations applied to the tariff.

Clearcast said they did not believe the TV ad stated or implied that the offer was available to all existing customers. They said, of npower's total number of available tariffs, seven were excluded from the offer. They said because of the time constraints of the ten-second commercial, it was not possible to name them all, which is why they had accepted on-screen text stating "certain tariffs excluded". They said the call to action in the ad was to visit npower's website, where they believed it would have been made clear to consumers that the offer was not available to all tariffs.

Assessment

1. Upheld

We noted there was no additional charge for fixing prices for existing customers on some npower tariffs. However, we also noted that other existing customers would have to switch to tariffs that were more expensive in order to take advantage of the offer. We considered that the presentation of all the ads implied the offer was available to all existing customers and the disclaimers therefore contradicted the main claim in the ad rather than clarifying it. Because not all existing customers could fix their prices "for free" (as the additional cost of switching to a higher tariff would be incurred by some) we considered that the ads were misleading.

On this point, press ad (a) and website promotion (c) breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness) 27.4, 32.1 and 34.1a (Promotions). TV ad (b) breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Code rules 5.1 and 5.2.3 (Misleading advertising).

2. Upheld

We noted npower had now modified their website promotion. Nevertheless, we considered that the phrases "existing customers can fix for free (a) and "our customers can fix for free" (c) gave the impression the offer was open to all existing npower customers. Because it was not, and because the body copy in the ads did not make that clear, we concluded the ads could mislead.

On this point the press ad (a) and website promotion (c) breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness) 27.4, 32.1 and 34.1a (Promotions).

3. Upheld

We considered that the voice-over stating "Here's something just for our existing customers" gave the impression the offer was open to all existing npower customers. We noted on-screen text stating "Domestic Duel fuel. Direct debit. Limited availability. Excludes certain tariffs." However, we concluded this contradicted the main message of the TV ad and that the ad was therefore misleading.

On this point the TV ad (b) breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Code rules 5.1 and 5.2.3 (Misleading advertising).

Action

The ads must not be shown again in their current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)