Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A promotion on a bridle seller's own Facebook page stated "Don't forget it's not too late to submit your entry into our fabulous Next Top Pony Model Competition! ... All you need to do to be in with a chance of your horse or pony being the face of Bridleworks is upload a photo to the competition tab on our page and ask your Facebook friends to 'Vote' for your photo. The top 20 horses or ponies with the most 'votes' will go through to the second round, where the winner will be chosen by an independent panel of judges".
Issue
1. Four complainants, who understood that a winner was not announced, challenged whether the promotion was fairly administered.
2. One complainant also challenged whether the voting system was clearly stated in the terms and conditions.
Response
1. & 2. Rebecca Penny (t/a Bridleworks) said the competition was run fairly. They said it was administered through an online third-party service, which enabled competition organisers to change the criteria and allow participants to gain bonus points for sharing, inviting friends to click the "like" link on the Facebook page and for friends who subsequently entered the competition. They pointed out that there was a disclaimer on the entry page which stated that the competition was not associated with Facebook and provided a link to the terms and conditions of the competition. They explained that they had made clear when the competition had ended and had selected the top 20 eligible finalists. They said the winner was selected by an independent panel of judges.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA considered consumers would interpret the claim "the winner will be chosen by an independent panel of judges" to mean that a panel of independent people would select the winner from the 20 participants who had received the most votes. We had not seen details of the independent panel of judges or evidence that demonstrated that a winner had been selected and announced. Because of that, we concluded that the promotion was not fairly administered.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 8.2 8.2 Promoters must conduct their promotions equitably, promptly and efficiently and be seen to deal fairly and honourably with participants and potential participants. Promoters must avoid causing unnecessary disappointment. (Sales promotions) 8.14 8.14 Promoters must ensure that their promotions are conducted under proper supervision and make adequate resources available to administer them. Promoters, agencies and intermediaries should not give consumers justifiable grounds for complaint. (Administration) and 8.26 8.26 In competitions, if the selection of a winning entry is open to subjective interpretation, an independent judge, or a panel that includes one independent member must be appointed. In either case, the judge or panel member must be demonstrably independent, especially from the competition's promoters and intermediaries and from the pool of entrants from which the eventual winner is picked. Those appointed to act as judges should be competent to judge the competition and their full names must be made available on request. (Prize promotions).
2. Upheld
The ASA considered consumers would interpret the claim "The top 20 horses or ponies with the most 'votes' will go through to the second round" to mean that the 20 participants who had received the most votes would go through to the final. However, we understood that Bridleworks had changed the judging criteria, awarding additional points to participants who had shared the page, invited friends to "like" the page or whose friends had subsequently entered the competition. We noted that the terms and conditions page was no longer active and, therefore, we had not seen evidence that the voting system was clearly stated in the terms and conditions from the outset of the competition. For those reasons, we concluded that the promotion was not fairly administered.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
8.2
8.2
Promoters must conduct their promotions equitably, promptly and efficiently and be seen to deal fairly and honourably with participants and potential participants. Promoters must avoid causing unnecessary disappointment.
(Sales promotions)
8.14
8.14
Promoters must ensure that their promotions are conducted under proper supervision and make adequate resources available to administer them. Promoters, agencies and intermediaries should not give consumers justifiable grounds for complaint.
(Administration), 8.17 and
8.17.1
8.17.1
How to participate
How to participate, including significant conditions and costs, and other major factors reasonably likely to influence consumers' decision or understanding about the promotion
(Significant conditions for promotions).
Action
The ad must not appear in its current form. We told Bridleworks to ensure that future competitions were fairly administered and that the voting system was clearly stated in the terms and conditions.
