Ad description
A telecoms bill in the form of a PDF file from Chess Ltd to a customer featured a promotion which stated "£100 for you & a friend … Refer to Chess & you'll both receive £100 off your bill*". This claim was above a small line of blurred print.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad was misleading, because the small print which stated the conditions of the offer was of low resolution and was not legible at any level of magnification.
Response
Chess Ltd acknowledged the complaint and said the ad would be changed.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA acknowledged that Chess Ltd said the ad would be changed. However, we noted that they had previously provided us with an assurance to this effect, but it had not been changed.
The ASA considered that the small print, which we understood contained a link to the conditions to the offer in the ad, was of a low resolution and was not legible at any level of magnification. We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
3.10
3.10
Qualifications must be presented clearly.
CAP has published a Help Note on Claims that Require Qualification.
(Qualification).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We asked Chess Ltd to ensure qualifying text in future ads is clear and legible.
