ASA Adjudication on Associated Newspapers Ltd

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A front-page flash on the Daily Mail stated "FREE WITH TOMORROW'S MAIL POIROT FREE DVD".

Issue

Two readers believed the flash to be misleading, because it did not make clear that the DVD would not be included with the newspaper, but had to be collected from either Tesco or WH Smith.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Associated Newspapers (Daily Mail) argued that the claim "free with" was justifiable for a front-page flash that appeared the day before a promotional issue of the paper. They said the next days promotional issue had a front-page flash that made clear that the DVD had to be picked up from branches of Tesco or WHSmith, and consumers would therefore be aware that they had to collect the disc before they made any decision to purchase the newspaper. The Daily Mail said readers could also claim the DVD by post by using the coupon inside the newspaper. They believed that the use of the word "with", as opposed to "inside", was fair in those circumstances.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the front-page flash on the promotional issue of the newspaper stated that the DVD had to be collected from Tesco or WHSmith. However, we considered that the front-page flash claim on the previous day's newspaper, "FREE WITH TOMORROWS MAIL", had implied that the DVD would be included "with" the following days newspaper. We noted consumers could also claim the DVD by using the coupon inside the promotional issue of the newspaper, but did not consider that this option removed the expectation given by the previous days front-page flash that the disc would be inside the newspaper. Because the DVD was not available "with" the following days newspaper as implied by the front-page flash, we concluded that it was misleading.

The front-page flash breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness), 27.4 (Sales promotion rules) and 36.1 (Front page flashes).

Action

The front-page flash must not be used again in its current form. We told the Daily Mail to ensure future pre-promotional front-page flashes used wording that clearly explained the nature of the offer.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)