Headlines and footnotes: a step-by-step guide
16 March 2007
The ASA ruled that this poster misleadingly implied the zinger chicken could be bought for 50p
A good headline can prick up a consumer’s ear to an offer (“BOGOF”) or become the thing of legend (“Labour isn’t working”). Sometimes, however, a headline needs a little more information, usually contained in the body copy or a footnote, to make sure claims are not misleading.
Several recent ASA adjudications have raised the importance of getting headlines and qualifying claims right. Below, we look at some of those adjudications, at what the advertisers did wrong and at tactics for getting it right.
Fast food advertiser told to take away ad
In January 2007, the ASA ruled on a poster for KFC chicken. The ad featured a chicken drumstick and a drawing of a sofa, with a large yellow arrow pointing behind the sofa cushion. Text stated “New spicy zinger chicken. To try it just find 50p”. A footnote in the poster stated “Limited to one piece per transaction with any bucket or meal. ‘Meal’ defined as minimum of fries, drink (regular or large in each case) plus one of the following Burger, Twister or Bucket or any items listed on the Classics menu. Limited period only. Subject to availability …”. The complaints were as simple as the headline: the ad was misleading because it did not make clear enough that the chicken was available for 50p only if it was bought with a more expensive set of products. The ASA upheld the complaints and stated that the qualifying text was too small at 1cm on an 180 cm long poster. It concluded that having the significant condition in the footnote was likely to mislead consumers about the nature of the offer and, moreover, that the condition could be seen to contradict the impression created by the headline.
Taking the high road to upheld complaints
In the previous month, the ASA ruled on a national press ad for the Golf GT TSI. It showed an image of the car and text on one side of the ad stated “High Performance” and on the other side “Low Emissions”. Text underneath the car stated “it also does over 38mpg, and emits just 175g of C02 per kilometre. More Power, less pollution. Better to drive. Better for the planet.” Text at the foot of the ad stated “CO2 emissions for the Golf GT TSI are lower than other engines with similar power outputs”. The ASA received four complaints about the ad. The complainants objected that the ad gave a misleading impression about the car’s emissions because they understood that, in an comparison of car emissions across the whole performance range, the featured car was in the fifth most polluting band of seven. Volkswagen defended the ad by arguing that the purpose of the ad was to communicate that the Golf GT TSI had low emissions for a car of its performance level. The ASA considered, however, that readers would infer from the ad that the car had “low emissions” compared with all cars, not just cars of similar performance. The footnote was an inadequate clarification of the nature of the comparison because it was not prominent enough or linked to the headline claim. The ASA upheld the complaints.
Points to watch
The main points advertisers should pay attention to in non-broadcast advertisements are:
1. the nature of qualifying claims – they may expand on primary claims or qualify them in other ways but should not contradict the primary claim;
2. the prominence of qualifying claims – this, and other factors such as whether they need to be asterisked to primary claims, varies depending on their size, clarity, positioning, significance, the content and layout of the rest of the ad, the medium used and the prominence of the primary claim;
3. footnotes –they should be legible to a normal-sighted person reading the ad once from a reasonable distance at a reasonable speed.
Getting it right
Advertisers can avoid getting into problems with headline claims and footnotes by taking advice from the CAP Copy Advice team on their non-broadcast ads (excludes TV and radio ads*). The team can give one-to-one advice on the phone on 020 7492 2100 or you can e-mail them at copyadvice@cap.org.uk; advertisers can use the advice in the AdviceOnline database under the entries Claims That Require Qualification and Smallprint and Foot Notes. The CAP Help Note on Claims That Require Qualification is an indispensable guide to the subject.
*Those making TV ads should refer to the BCAP Guidance Note On-screen Text and Subtitling In Television Advertisements and consult the BACC. Copy clearance for radio ads can be sought from the RACC.