ASA Adjudication on Cycle-S.O.S.

Ad

A magazine ad for Cycle-S.O.S. stated "CYCLISTS' NATIONAL HELPLINE EST. 1988 - SAME HELPLINE - SAME CLAIMS SERVICE - NEW NAME - CYCLE-S.O.S. - FORMERLY CYCLE-AID - A NEW NAME BUT STILL THE SAME HIGHLY TRAINED TEAM OF PERSONAL INJURY LAWYERS RECOVERING THOUSANDS OF POUNDS FOR THOUSANDS OF CYCLISTS NATIONWIDE."

Issue

Simon A Holt and Co challenged whether

1. the claim "EST. 1988" was misleading and could be substantiated;

2. the claim "FORMERLY CYCLE-AID" was likely to mislead readers about the status of the complainant's company, Cycle Aid Ltd.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. & 2. Cycle-S.O.S. said the brand name "Cycle Aid" was first used in 1988 by two solicitor partners to market legal claims services to cyclists. They also set up a company, Cycle Aid Ltd, in which they were both directors and joint shareholders, although it did not trade. The partnership had been dissolved in 1992, after which each partner continued to offer similar legal services independently of the other, advertising under the Cycle Aid name on alternate weeks in cycling magazines until 2009. Cycle-S.O.S. supplied an extract from a deed of dissolution which they said showed each partner had equal title and rights to any property of Cycle Aid Ltd. Cycle-S.O.S. believed, however, that they had been the founding voice of Cycle Aid. The solicitor partner concerned believed he had undertaken the majority of the work in establishing the business, including providing an out of hours helpline to clients, and had been at the centre of the operation from 1988 to the present day; that the service Cycle-S.O.S. offered included the expertise gained since then and that any complaint or claim relating to service or advice given as far back as 1988 could still be resolved now. The solicitor partner behind Cycle-S.O.S. remained a shareholder in and a director of Cycle Aid Ltd, although the company remained dormant. Cycle-S.O.S. said they had re-branded themselves but had not abandoned the right to use variants of the Cycle Aid brand name.

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA noted that, although Cycle-S.O.S. believed themselves to be the founding voice of the original Cycle Aid brand, it appeared that both original partners in fact had equal title and rights to the Cycle Aid brand name; that both remained shareholders in the Cycle Aid company and that both had continued independently to use the Cycle Aid name. One of the original partners remained a consultant to Simon A Holt and Co. We considered that, although Cycle-S.O.S. could legitimately claim continuity of legal expertise in cycling injury claims since 1988, the "EST. 1988" claim, in conjunction with other elements of the ad that included the claims "SAME HELPLINE - SAME CLAIMS SERVICE - NEW NAME - CYCLE-S.O.S. - FORMERLY CYCLE-AID" suggested that Cycle-S.O.S. had been trading continuously alone and as the same entity since 1988. Because Cycle-S.O.S. had not shown that that was the case, we concluded that the ad was misleading on this point.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

2. Upheld

We noted that Cycle-S.O.S. had the right, on an equal basis with another former partner, to use the brand name Cycle Aid (and therefore to refer to it as their former name when re-branding in the way described in the investigated ad). We considered, however, that the claim "FORMERLY CYCLE-AID" suggested that the company Cycle Aid, in all its forms, was now trading as Cycle-S.O.S. to the exclusion of any rights the complainants had in the name. Because that was not the case, we concluded that the ad was misleading on this point.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Cycle-S.O.S. to remove the claims "EST. 1988" and "FORMERLY CYCLE-AID" from their ad.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)