ASA Adjudication on Martin John-Brewer
Martin John-Brewer
The Mallings
112 Malling Street
Lewes
BN7 2RJ
Date:
23 November 2011
Media:
Direct mail
Sector:
Leisure
Number of complaints:
1
Complaint Ref:
A11-166674
Ad
A direct mailing, for a betting tipster service, received in July 2011, stated "You have been selected as one of fifty potential new clients to participate in a venture which will quite simply change your life! ... Legally Binding Weekly Profits Guarantee ... I guarantee you will earn at ... least £5,000 each week - Otherwise I will be 100% responsible for the difference ... There is an offshore bookmaker who will lay huge bets to really big international gamblers who form his client base ... Most Profitable Inside Information Available Anywhere ... For many years I made a very good living, initially as a bookmaker and more recently as a major professional investor ... last year we achieved a 83% WINNING STRIKE RATE ... so far this year (2011), of the 23 Gambles, a [sic] incredibly impressive 20 have won ... Offshore Racing Club Is an absolutely NO RISK OPPORTUNITY ... I can assure you of virtually 100% WINNERS ... because of the astronomical cost of getting this information it has cost me well over £400,000.00". The ad included a testimonial from a customer who claimed to be involved in the scheme for the past four years and the ad provided her telephone number.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether:
1. the claim "You have been selected as one of fifty potential new clients to participate in a venture which will quite simply change your life!" was misleading and could be substantiated;
2. the claim "Legally Binding Weekly Profits Guarantee" could be substantiated;
3. the claim "I guarantee you will earn at ... least £5,000 each week - Otherwise I will be 100% responsible for the difference" was misleading and could be substantiated;
4. the claim "There is an offshore bookmaker who will lay huge bets to really big international gamblers who form his client base" could be substantiated;
5. the claim "Most Profitable Inside Information Available Anywhere" could be substantiated;
6. the claim "last year we achieved a 83% WINNING STRIKE RATE" could be substantiated;
7. the claim "... so far this year (2011), of the 23 Gambles, a incredibly impressive 20 have won" could be substantiated;
8. the claim "absolutely NO RISK OPPORTUNITY" was misleading and could be substantiated;
9. the claim "I can assure you of virtually 100% WINNERS" was misleading and could be substantiated;
10. the testimonial by Anna Henderson was genuine;
11. the claim "because of the astronomical cost of getting this information it has cost me well over £400,000.00" could be substantiated; and
12. the claim "For many years I made a very good living, initially as a bookmaker and more recently as a major professional investor" could be substantiated.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
Response
Martin John-Brewer did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by Martin John-Brewer's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded Martin John-Brewer of his responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told him to do so in the future.
We noted the mailing featured several profit related claims, for instance "you will earn at ... least £5,000 each week" and claims relating to winning strike rates. We considered that recipients would expect that Martin John-Brewer could demonstrate that those profits and related levels of performance were achievable. We noted we had not seen documentary evidence to substantiate that Martin John-Brewer worked as a bookmaker or professional investor, or any information concerning the "no risk opportunity" and "Legally Binding Weekly Profits Guarantee" that recipients would expect. We concluded that, because we had not seen any evidence to support any of the claims made, the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation), 3.11 (Exaggeration), 3.45 (Endorsements and testimonials) and 3.53 (Guarantees and after-sales service).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We asked CAP to inform its members of the problem with Martin John-Brewer. We told Martin John-Brewer to ensure they held adequate substantiation to support all claims in future advertising.
