Ad description
A magazine ad in the February edition of olive magazine promoted subscriptions to that magazine. The ad was headlined "FREE Bodum Travel Mug when you subscribe". Text, headed "SUBSCRIBE TO THE PRINT EDITION AND RECEIVE ACCESS TO THE APP", stated "*Receive a free Bodum Travel Mug *Just £17.50 every six issues when you subscribe by Direct Debit - saving 20%". Text headlined "YOU CAN NOW ALSO HAVE A DIGITAL ONLY SUBSCRIPTION" stated "*Receive a free Bodum Travel Mug *Just £15 every six issues when you subscribe by Direct Debit saving 15%". Further text stated "Subscribe to olive this month and we'll send you a Free Bodum Travel Mug worth £25" The item was pictured alongside bold text which stated "FREE BODUM TRAVEL MUG WORTH £25". Additional text stated "Subscribing is easy ... order online at buysubscriptions.com/olive and quote [subscription code]. It also provided the subscription hotline number for orders by phone. Small text stated "This offer is open for UK delivery addresses only and subject to availability. Full UK subscription price for the print edition 12 issues: £44.40, Europe/Eire ... This offer ends of 28 February 2013".
Issue
A complainant challenged whether the claim "FREE Bodum Travel Mug" was misleading, because she noted that a subscription for 12 issues of the magazine and the "free" travel mug was more expensive than the same subscription without the mug.
Response
Immediate Media Company said olive magazine was sold in the traditional print format, but also as a digital publication to be read on mobile and tablet devices. They said the pricing of subscriptions was a complex and dynamic business and there were a number of factors that a publisher would consider when determining price, such as digital versus print subscription costs, including the varying VAT costs; the length of the subscription period; seasonal and promotional discounts; payment by credit card versus debit card; or the postal costs being borne by the publisher in some circumstances. They said a menu of subscription offers were likely to be in existence for any one title at any given time and one option would be the full price of the subscription, likely to be a straightforward multiple of the retail price. However, many options would offer some form of incentive. They said that the full retail price of the magazine was usually £3.70 and therefore a twelve-month subscription cost £44.40, if the advertisers did not pass on postal costs. They pointed out that the full price was given at the foot of the magazine ad.
They understood that the complainant had inputted the published promotion code on Immediate Media Company's subscriptions website to take up the subscription and free mug offer. They stated that, before the complainant began the transaction, the subscription website was displaying a "white mail" subscription price. They explained that white mail was the price offered to potential purchasers who came to the transaction without any other connection to the title; namely consumers who did not click through from a related website, use a promotional code advertised in the magazine or display any other existing connection with the brand. They stated that, for that reason, the white mail price was usually heavily discounted, as price was likely to be the sole or determining factor when deciding whether or not to take up the subscription.
They understood that, by the end of the transaction, the complainant had made a number of choices which led to the selection of the full price of £44.40 and the free gift offered in the February promotion. They stated that, to trigger that price point, the complainant would have chosen to apply the promotion code relating to the February promotion, which entitled her to a free gift, and chosen to pay by credit card and not direct debit, as the latter would have resulted in a subscription cost of 12 issues for £35.
They added that, since receiving the complaint, they had reviewed the process and intended to make changes to the website so that a consumer trying to redeem a specific offer was taken directly to the page that already carried the details of that offer, and would therefore not be required to navigate through the other options available on that title at any given time. They also stated that the ad would not be run again using the same format.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted that the advertisers operated a dynamic pricing system, where a range of variables might affect the price a consumer paid. We understood that the "FREE Bodum Travel Mug" was intended to be offered in conjunction with the 12-month UK print subscription price paid for by credit card, which was priced at the full subscription price of £44.40.
We understood that, to take up the subscription and free mug offer, the complainant had gone to the website link listed in the magazine ad and the subscription website had initially shown that 12 issues of the magazine were being offered for a total price of £34.50 when opting to pay by credit card. However, on inputting the promotional code from the magazine ad, to obtain the free mug, the price for 12 issues of the magazine, when also opting to pay by credit card, was £44.40.
We acknowledged that the advertisers considered that the two prices related to separate promotional offers: firstly, a "white mail" offer (priced at £34.50 for 12 issues); and secondly, the "free mug" offer featured in the ad (priced at £44.40). We considered, however, that it would not be clear to a consumer accessing the subscription website, particularly if using the website address featured in the magazine ad, that these were separate promotions aimed at different types of consumer and considered therefore that consumers would understand that the price of £44.40, namely the subscription offering the "free mug", had been inflated compared to the initial price of £34.50, which was not connected to a free product.
Although we noted that the ad's small print stated "Full UK subscription price for the print edition 12 issues: £44.40", we noted we had not seen any evidence that the subscription had been previously sold at that full price. We also noted that, due to the dynamic pricing system operated by the advertisers, consumers might be presented with differing prices or offers depending on how they contacted or accessed the subscription services. We considered that, in the complainant's case, the subscription website had not made any clear distinction between the different offers and prices shown during the ordering process, and considered that consumers were therefore likely to be confused by the varying prices shown during their transactional journey to obtain a subscription to olive magazine and would understand that the price of the "free mug" promotion had been inflated to £44.40, compared to the initial £34.50 offer shown on the subscription website. We concluded that the ad was misleading on that basis.
Investigated under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising) and 3.25 3.25 Marketers must not describe an element of a package as "free" if that element is included in the package price unless consumers are likely to regard it as an additional benefit because it has recently been added to the package without increasing its price. (Free).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told the advertisers to ensure that subscription offers and prices were clear to consumers.
