Ad description
A TV ad for Lotto included the claim "Tonight is a rollover, with a £7million jackpot" in the voice-over. Large on-screen text shown at the same time stated "Rollover" followed by "£7million jackpot". On-screen text at the bottom of the screen, shown at a later point in the ad, included "Estimated jackpot".
Issue
A viewer challenged whether the claim "£7million jackpot" was misleading, because they believed it was contradicted by the on-screen text that stated "Estimated jackpot".
Response
Camelot UK Lotteries Ltd t/a Lotto said they did not believe the claim "£7million jackpot" was contradicted by a qualification that the amount was an estimate. They said that since the lottery was launched in 1994 they had advertised jackpots by stating a figure and then qualifying the claim, regardless of whether the claim was made on-screen or in the voice-over. They said that after 19 years it was well understood that Lotto did not have a guaranteed fixed jackpot, but an estimated jackpot which fluctuated depending on sales and the number of winners of the 'Match 3' prizes for that particular draw. They said that regardless of a consumer's prior knowledge, the qualification "Estimated jackpot" was clear. They said that the qualification appeared immediately after the claim "£7million jackpot" in the voice-over, and appeared on-screen for the remaining 14 seconds of the ad. They said that in the case of this particular draw the actual jackpot was £7.96m. They said they based the estimate on the actual sales for the previous night's Lotto draw, which was relevant because the jackpot rolled over, the predicted sales for the relevant Lotto draw and the number of predicted 'Match 3' winners.
Clearcast said that the ad did not state that the jackpot amount was "guaranteed" and that they believed it was sufficient to qualify the claim with the on-screen text "Estimated jackpot". They said this was how such ads for Lotto were historically structured and they believed that most consumers would be familiar with the fact that the final jackpot amount depended on the number of participants. They said the estimate was invariably a minimum the jackpot amount might reach and so was unlikely to overestimate the final jackpot. They said on-screen text stating "Games Rules and Procedures apply" was also included in the ad to indicate to those few people who were not familiar with the rules that these could be considered before participating. They said the quoted jackpot amount might not be won, for example if no one picked those numbers or if more than one person had picked the numbers and the jackpot was shared. They also believed that the word "jackpot" itself indicated that the figure quoted was variable.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA noted the ad did not state that the jackpot amount of £7 million was guaranteed. We considered that the average consumer was likely to be aware that the Lotto jackpot depended on the number of people who purchased tickets and was therefore not a fixed amount. We did not consider that the qualification "Estimated jackpot" contradicted the claim "£7million jackpot", and considered that it was sufficient to display the qualification in on-screen text. We therefore concluded that the ad did not breach the Code.
We investigated the ad under BCAP Code rules
3.1
3.1
Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.2
3.2
Advertisements must not mislead consumers 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 consumers need in context to make informed decisions about whether or how to buy a product or service. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead consumers depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the advertisement is constrained by time or space, the measures that the advertiser takes to make that information available to consumers by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
3.10
3.10
Advertisements must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.
(Qualification) but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
