ASA Adjudication on JDM Marketing Ltd

Ad

A direct mailing from Bright-Life UK included details of a prize promotion with a brochure of goods for sale. The mailing stated "CONGRATULATIONS! GUARANTEED BANK GIFT CHEQUE TO WINNERS WHO RETURN WITHDRAWAL SLIP PRIOR TO XXXX". Text, which was linked by an arrow to an adjoining cut out slip, stated "LIVERPOOL BANK FUNDS WITHDRAWAL AUTHORISATION SLIP To qualify for the money due to you, simply detach Withdrawal Slip at right and place in official reply envelope. Seal and post it to us prior to redemption deadline date". Text printed onto the cut-out slip stated "LIVERPOOL BANK CASH WITHDRAWAL Bearer of this withdrawal slip, upon its surrender, is GUARANTEED a special gift cheque to be withdrawn from our Liverpool Bank". The slip was divided into fields; the company name and date were printed together with a funds I.D number, "PDS25000UKGIV", recipient's name and "MONIES FORFEITURE DATE". The account number and value of the slip were blanked out. Text stated "DEDUCT ABOVE SUM FROM COMPANY SAVINGS ACCOUNT AND POST TO BEARER UPON THEIR ACCEPTANCE OF GIFT CHEQUE. WITHDRAWAL AUTHORISATION". Text below the slip stated "CONGRATULATIONS TO (BEARER OF WITHDRAWAL SLIP): L 36454 40722 [recipient's name] BANK FUNDS TO BE DELIVERED TO: [recipient's address]". A Union Jack was printed onto the page.

Further text stated "LIVERPOOL BANK CASH AWARDS WITHDRAWALS PROCESSING CENTRE … GREAT UK GIVEAWAY £109,500.00 in Awards and Prizes / Thousands of Winners READ CAREFULLY! Be it known that JDM is the duly-noted sponsor of a legal, bonded sweepstakes that gives away thousands of pounds in cash and prizes to lucky notification recipients. YOU ARE THE LATEST RECIPIENT CHOSEN TO RECEIVE FUNDS FROM OUR LIVERPOOL BANK. The amount has been reserved in your name at our Liverpool Bank. THE CASH IS YOURS AND AVAILABLE TO BE CLAIMED IMMEDIATELY. Congratulations Liverpool Bank Withdrawals Slip Recipient … WE NEED TO CONFIRM YOUR CASH AWARD DELIVERY ADDRESS AT THIS TIME. After checking and rechecking, our Great UK Giveaway Judging Committee has verified some GREAT NEWS! At 11:11 am, on 26/08/2008, YOU were officially selected as the LATEST recipient of a special gift cheque award to be withdrawn from funds at our Liverpool Bank. THIS IS NOT A MISPRINT! A BANK CHEQUE WILL BE MADE OUT IN YOUR NAME AND POSTED TO YOU UPON RECIEPT OF YOUR LIVERPOOL BANK WITHDRAWAL SLIP ABOVE. Be assured that your cash award is completely free. THERE ARE NO DUES, PROCESSING OR HANDLING FEES OF ANY KIND TO REMIT PRIOR TO CLAIMING YOUR GUARANTEED CASH AWARD. Best of all, no taxes will be taken out prior to your receipt of these funds. To qualify for MONEY due you: (1) Detach the Liverpool Bank Withdrawal Slip from the top of this letter. (2) Place it in the official reply envelope with all other requested documents. (3) Finally, seal reply envelope and post it to us prior to the aforementioned redemption deadline date … Upon receipt of all documents requested, your gift cheque will be officially identified and your money - in the form of a Liverpool Bank cheque - will be drawn and then posted to the address you state as your preferred delivery address on the documents enclosed. Unfortunately, as much as we would like to, (due to our Liverpool Bank and 2008 Sweepstakes Regulations), we cannot disclose the amount of your gift cheque or post your cheque in this notification. In lieu of that, we have enclosed the Liverpool Bank Withdrawal Authorisation Slip verifying you as the lawful recipient … Please note that purchase is not required from this mailing and will not affect in any way whatsoever the likelihood of receiving the gift cheque that is already designated to be awarded to you. However, by following the entry instructions, you will automatically qualify for FULL ENTRY ELIGIBILITY for all prizes, giveaways, sweepstakes, free gifts and bonus prize draws mentioned throughout this notification … including, but not limited to, the £25,000.00 Grand Prize. REMEMBER, YOU ARE GUARANTEED TO RECEIVE MONEY DUE YOU WHEN YOU TAKE ACTION PER GUIDELINES PRIOR TO THE DEADLINE … PS You could also win an additional £609.80! Look for and then return the "double cash" entry form. You could win again AND again through a special BONUS draw! Return the Double Cash Entry Form enclosed to qualify to enter and win as much as £609.80 more …".

A document entitled "CHEQUE DELIVERY ADDRESS CONFIRMATION FORM" was included, to which was attached a tear-off slip, designed in the style of a bank cheque. Text superimposed onto it stated "BONUS GIVEAWAY! … £DOUBLE CASH BONUS GIVEAWAY! £ REGISTERED NAME: [recipient's name] ACTIVATE ENTRY ELIGIBILITY IN A DRAW FOR: SIX HUNDRED NINE POUNDS AND EIGHTY PENCE £609.80"; the figure was printed as though hand-written in red pen. Text at the foot of the slip, underneath a pre-prepared area for the recipient to sign, stated "SIGN, DETACH AND RETURN WITHIN TEN DAYS …".

Further text on the rear of the form stated "(X) YES! I am CASHING IN the Liverpool Bank Withdrawal Form. In addition to my GUARANTEED Gift Cheque - withdrawn from monies at your Liverpool Bank - please inform me if I win the £25,000.00 Grand Prize or any of over 1,000 other prizes worth £109,500.00 offered in the Great UK Giveaway. Also, send my no-risk order as indicated below. I understand that there is no purchase necessary to claim my gift cheque … and that the monies already won and reserved in my name through the awarding of the gift cheque are mine to keep, even if I return my order …". An order form was printed onto the page.

Text in relation to the "Double Cash Giveaway" stated "… Maximum Award: up to Six Hundred Nine Pounds and Eighty Pence. No purchase required, see rules below. 25 Winners will definitely receive an additional cheque withdrawn from our Liverpool Bank for a share of winnings from this additional giveaway totalling £2,077.80". Text under the heading "OFFICIAL DOUBLE CASH RULES" stated "… 2. If you are making a purchase when entering, complete and return the Double Cash Entry Form … No cost or obligation to enter. 3. Odds of winning are as follows: two prizes of £609.80 each, three prizes of £77.70 each, ten prizes of £32.58 each, and ten prizes of £29.93 depend on the number of entries received which may be in the millions … 7. To enter without making a purchase, please see Rule 6 on page 13 of the catalogue. NOTE: DO NOT use the enclosed reply envelope and DO NOT mail to the address on the official reply envelope or you may be disqualified …".

Text inside the brochure of goods stated “BrightLife UK OFFICIAL £25,000.00 SWEEPSTAKES RULES / GRAND CASH PRIZE GUARANTEED TO BE AWARDED”. It gave details of the rules of entry into the promotion and at point 5 stated “… £100,000.00 will be split equally amongst all individuals who respond in compliance with all instructions but in no event will you receive less than 31 pence …”.

Issue

The ASA received two complaints:  

1.  one complainant believed the mailing was misleading, because it implied the recipient had won a "Guaranteed Liverpool Bank cheque".

A second complainant believed the mailing was misleading, because:

2.  it implied the recipient had won £609.80, the sum printed onto the 'cheque' enclosed with the mailing; and  

3.  the presentation and rules of participation were complex and difficult to follow.

The ASA challenged whether the mailing:

4.  implied recipients were luckier than they were; and

5.  gave sufficient prominence to the no purchase necessary route.  

Response

1.  JDM explained that all recipients of the mailing were guaranteed a Liverpool Bank Cheque if they responded.  They further explained that the cheque was not 'won', however as the complainant had understood, but was every respondent's entitlement.  They said the maximum and minimum value of the Cheques were detailed in the rules enclosed with the mailing.

2.  JDM explained that they had sought advice from the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Copy Advice team about the mailing prior to its distribution and no concerns were raised in this regard.  They pointed out that the word "SAMPLE" was stamped onto the Double Cash Entry Form, which was a mock cheque, and text printed onto it also stated "ACTIVATE ENTRY ELIGIBILITY IN A DRAW FOR £609.80".  They believed it was clear that steps needed to be taken in order to enter a draw for the stated sum.  

JDM also drew attention to postscript text included in the mailing, which stated "PS You could also win an additional £609.80!  Look for and then return the "double cash" entry form ... Return the Double Cash Entry Form enclosed to qualify to enter and win as much as £609.80 more ...".  They also pointed to text, printed on the rear of the 'cheque' below the order form, which stated "OFFICIAL DOUBLE CASH RULES"; the rules clarified that the recipient was entitled to enter a draw for various prizes including the sum of £609.80.  

3.  JDM said, in their view, that the rules for participation were not complex and were straightforward to follow.  They explained that the same rules had been used in similar mailings from Bright-Life UK for over 15 years and that they submitted all sweepstake mailings and their rules to the CAP Copy Advice team for review and approval prior to use.

4.  JDM explained that the mailing had been submitted to the CAP Copy Advice team prior to distribution and no concern was raised that it implied recipients were luckier than they were.  They said reference numbers, such as the Funds I.D. Number, were not unique to individual mailings or recipients, but JDM were considering using unique numbers as a further means of date-related customer identification.

They believed, however, that when read in its overall context, neither the mailing nor the stamped reference numbers it incorporated, gave the impression that recipients were luckier than they were.  JDM pointed out that all recipients who responded would receive a gift cheque.

5.  JDM said the mailing stated throughout that no purchase was necessary in order for recipients to obtain the gift cheque.  They pointed out that, in addition, the presentation and rules of participation clearly stated "IF NOT REQUESTING A SELECTION FROM OUR CATALOGUE AT NO-RISK, SEE SWEEPSTAKES RULE NO.6"; rule 6 clarified how to participate under the heading "ENTERING THE SWEEPSTAKES WHEN NOT PURCHASING".

Assessment

1.  Not upheld

We understood that the complainant was concerned, because the mailing implied the recipient had been awarded a 'Guaranteed Liverpool Bank Cheque', which he believed was not the case.  

We noted text in the mailing stated "To qualify for the money due you, simply detach Withdrawal Slip at right and place in official reply envelope ...", "A BANK CHEQUE WILL BE MADE OUT IN YOUR NAME AND POSTED TO YOU UPON RECEIPT OF YOUR LIVERPOOL BANK WITHDRAWAL SLIP ..." and "Upon receipt of all documents requested, your gift cheque will be officially identified and your money - in the form of a Liverpool Bank Cheque - will be drawn and then posted to the address you state ...".  We also noted JDM's confirmation that every recipient who responded was guaranteed to receive a Liverpool Bank Cheque and understood from the rules printed in the Brightlife UK Catalogue of Values, which was included with the mailing, that the value of the Liverpool Bank Cheque depended on the number of respondents; £100,000 would be split equally among all individuals who responded and in no event would respondents receive less than 31 pence.    

In view of the fact that every respondent was guaranteed a Liverpool Bank Cheque, we concluded that the mailing had not misled in this regard.

On this point, we investigated the mailing under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), 27.4 (Sales promotion rules) and 35.1 and 35.2 (Other rules for prize promotions) but did not find it in breach.

2.  Not upheld

We noted the text "SAMPLE" was printed onto the mock cheque attached to the mailing and considered that readers would understand that it was not a real cheque.  We also understood, however, that the complainant believed he had won the sum printed onto the 'cheque'.  

We noted the 'cheque' referred to the advertisers' Double Cash Bonus Giveaway offer, whereby 25 respondents to the mailing, in addition to the Liverpool Bank Cheque all were guaranteed, would win a bonus amount ranging from £29.93 to £609.80.     

Although we acknowledged that the complainant believed the mailing implied recipients had already won the sum of £609.80, we considered that, when read as a whole, the mailing clarified the context in which the sum was made available.  We noted the rules listed on the reverse of the Double Cash Bonus Giveaway 'cheque' and the postscript text referred to by JDM and concluded that the mailing had not suggested that all recipients had won the amount of £609.80.

On this point, we investigated the mailing under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), 27.4 (Sales promotion rules), 35.1 and 35.2 (Other rules for prize promotions) but did not find it in breach.

3.  Not upheld

We understood that the complainant was concerned because he found the terms of participation difficult to follow.  In addition to confusion over whether he had won a cash prize and the value of that prize (see point 3), he pointed out that the rules attached to the promotion were not included in the mailing, but were printed in the Brightlife UK brochure.   

We understood that all recipients of the mailing who responded before the deadline date were entitled to a "Liverpool Bank Cheque".  In addition, all respondents would be entered into the "Great UK Giveaway" prize draw where a top prize of £25,000 could be won and 25 of those who completed the "Double Cash Bonus" slip had the chance to win up to £609.80.  We noted all of this information was provided in the body copy of the mailing.

We understood the complainant's concern that the rules of the promotion were not directly incorporated into the mailing.  We noted, however, they were referred to in the mailing; readers were advised to consult rule 6 on page 13 of the catalogue in the event that they wished to enter without making a purchase.  In addition to guidance on how to enter without a purchase, the remaining rules clarified, for example, that respondents should complete and return the gift claim form to enter, those who were excluded from entry, the odds of winning the prizes and gifts available, winners tax liabilities and the value of the gift cheques awarded.  

We noted the CAP Code stated that complex rules should be avoided and only very exceptionally would it be considered acceptable to supplement conditions of entry with additional rules.  Although we understood the complainant's view that the mailing was very heavily worded and entry into the promotion was multi-faceted, requiring the completion of several areas in order to participate fully, we considered that all relevant instructions and conditions of entry were made available within the documents provided.  In addition, we noted printed onto the reply-paid envelope was a simplified list of instructions on how to participate, both in the event of simultaneously placing an order of goods from the Brightlife-UK catalogue and through the no purchase route.  It was noted that the full rules of entry were printed in the brochure and not on the mailing itself, but we considered that those rules, being provided at the same time as the mailing, supplemented the information it included and contained nothing likely to influence recipients against participating.  

We concluded that, on balance, the rules of entry into the promotion were not overly complex.

On this point, we investigated the mailing under CAP Code clause 35.5 (Other rules for prize promotions) but did not find it in breach.

4.  Upheld

We acknowledged that JDM had sought advice from the CAP Copy Advice team and no particular concern had been raised that the mailing implied recipients were luckier than they were.  We noted, however, the mailing was introduced by the text "CONGRATULATIONS!  GUARANTEED LIVERPOOL BANK GIFT CHEQUE TO WINNERS WHO RETURN WITHDRAWAL SLIP ...".  Further text stated "Congratulations", "GREAT NEWS!", "YOU were officially selected as the LATEST recipient of a special gift cheque award ..." and "REMEMBER, YOU ARE GUARANTEED TO RECEIVE MONEY DUE YOU WHEN YOU TAKE ACTION ...".

We considered that readers were likely to infer from the text, with particular reference to the terms "Congratulations" which appeared on several occasions, and "WINNERS", that they had been awarded a considerable sum.  We noted the mailing clarified that all recipients who responded would receive a Liverpool Bank Cheque and the rules included in the brochure stated that the value of the Liverpool Bank Cheque would be a share of £100,000 and no less than 31 pence depending on the number of respondents, which could be millions.  We considered, therefore, that respondents were likely to receive a relatively low value cheque and the text referred to above implied they were luckier than they were likely to be.

In addition, we noted the mailing included reference numbers in a number of places, which included a 'Funds I.D. Number' and 'Liverpool Bank Authorisation' number, stamped onto the mailing in red ink.  We considered that readers were likely to infer from the inclusion of the numbering that the references were unique to them.  We understood that that was not the case.  Added to the congratulatory text, we considered that the numbering system contributed to the impression given, which was that readers were luckier than they probably were.

On this point, the mailing breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness), 27.4 (Sales promotion rules) and 35.3 (Other rules for prize promotions).

5.  Not upheld

We noted the mailing included the text "Please note that purchase is not required" in the body copy on a number of occasions and further text clarified "IF NOT REQUESTING A SELECTION FROM OUR CATALOGUE AT NO-RISK, SEE SWEEPSTAKES RULE NO.6".  In addition, text included under the heading "OFFICIAL DOUBLE CASH RULES" specified "To enter without making a purchase, please see Rule 6 on page 13 of the catalogue"; rule 6 instructed readers on the steps they should take to participate when not also making a purchase.  

We considered that readers were given sufficient information throughout the mailing to understand how to participate, both with and without making a purchase, and concluded that, in accordance with the requirements of the CAP Code, the no purchase necessary route had been made sufficiently clear and was likely to come to the attention of all those who considered participating.

On this point, we investigated the mailing under CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness), 33.1 (Prize promotions and the law) and 34.1 (Significant conditions for promotions) but did not find it in breach.

Action

The mailings should not appear again in their current form.  We told JDM to ensure that future mailings did not imply recipients were luckier than they were.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)