Ad description

A radio ad for a payday loan company stated, "Need a cash cow after Christmas? Here, milk ours. Apply for a short-term loan with Peachy Loans; borrow up to £500 and payback on a date to suit you. Try the Peachy Loans calculator at peachy.co.uk and you could 'heifer' response in minutes. Go to Peachy.co.uk and let Peachy put a smile on your face. Over 18s, subject to status, representative APR 1918% terms and conditions apply".

Issue

Two complainants challenged whether the ad was misleading because the 1918% APR figure was read as "nineteen eighteen per cent", which they believed was likely to confuse listeners.

Response

Cash On Go Ltd said they were satisfied that the ad met the requirements of the Consumer Credit (Advertisements) Regulations 2010. They acknowledged that the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) was read as "nineteen eighteen per cent" but asserted that this was commonly-used phrasing for reading numbers. They said there was no intention to mislead consumers but for the avoidance of doubt they would read the number as 'one thousand nine hundred and eighteen' in future.

The RACC said they cleared the script with the APR expressed factually as a number, without any instruction as to how the number would be read out.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted that Cash On Go Ltd were satisfied that the ad was compliant with the Consumer Credit (Advertisements) Regulations 2010. However, the ad was also subject to the BCAP Code. BCAP Code rule  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.
 stated that "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."

We acknowledged that it was common to read some types of numbers, such as telephone numbers, in the manner heard in the ad. However, we did not consider that to be a common phrasing for reading important financial information, such as APRs. We considered that the APR was read in an unclear and ambiguous manner, and could have been misheard or misunderstood by listeners.

We welcomed Cash On Go Ltd's assurance that in future they would read out APRs in full, but because we considered the ad had read material information in an unclear and ambiguous manner, we concluded that it had breached the Code.

The ad breached 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).

Action

The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form.

BCAP Code

3.1     3.2    


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