Ad description
A teleshopping presentation on bid tv, for a Yarvik tablet bundle. When introducing the product, the presenter stated, "Well I want to give you the opportunity to get on the lines early for this because this is your last, this is the last chance to get it really ... This is the last chance to get it. This is not going to be on again tonight with Peter so this really is the last of the current stock. We don't expect to be getting this in before Christmas ... We do not expect to be seeing this package again before Christmas, so it really is now or never." The presenter made further statements throughout the presentation regarding the availability of the product, including: "This is the last chance to get ... this bundle before Christmas. This is the last time we're going to do it"; "This is your last chance to get this deal before Christmas. This isn't going to be in Peter Simon's shift this evening, this is the last and final time"; "This is your last chance to get it. This is the last chance to take advantage of this bundle. Peter, unfortunately he doesn't have it this evening"; "This offer is not going to be on your screen again before Christmas. It's not going to be on your screen again before Christmas. Make the most of it"; "This is your last chance to get this today, this is your last chance to get this bundle before Christmas"; "By all accounts it's the last opportunity to take advantage of it this side of Christmas"; and "This is your last chance to buy, the last chance before Christmas. This is the last chance to take advantage of this specific bundle."
Issue
The complainant, who understood the bundle had been presented for sale again before Christmas, challenged whether the presentation misleadingly implied that the bundle would be available only during the presentation that day.
Response
Sit-up Ltd, trading as bid tv, said that at the time of the presentation they knew they would not be replenishing their stock of the bundle before Christmas. Because of the previous popularity of the bundle, they had believed that the stock they held was likely to all be sold during the presentation; the presenter's statements during the presentation reflected that. However, the bundle had not sold as well as they had expected during the presentation and so they had presented it for sale again before Christmas. They acknowledged that the presenter could have qualified his statements rather than assume that all the stock would be sold. They said they realised how the presentation could have been interpreted by viewers and said they had introduced measures to prevent a similar situation occurring again.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted that the presenter's claims reflected bid tv's belief at the time of the presentation that based on previous sales, their stock of the bundle would sell out and they would therefore not be making it available for sale again before Christmas. We considered, however, that having made those claims during the presentation, Bid TV should not have offered the bundle for sale again before Christmas regardless of whether they had sold all their stock. Because the presentation stated that the bundle would not be available to consumers again before Christmas, when in fact the bundle was made available again before Christmas, we concluded the presentation was misleading.
The ad breached BCAP Code 3.1 3.1 Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising).
Action
The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form. We told bid tv to ensure they did not make misleading claims in relation to the future availability of products.
