Ad description
A website for UK holidays, www.nationalholidays.com, seen in June 2016, promoted a holiday in Scotland. The ad featured the headline claim "Scotland All-Inclusive & Island Cruise. 5 days away". Further text under the heading "The Island Cruise" stated "We join our boat at Oban for a memorable island cruise taking in the sights of Oban Bay, the wonderful islands of Mull and Kerrera, together with the enigmatic sights of the three great castles of Dunollie, Duart and Gylen. A sensational adventure exploring the sea lochs, inlets and islands, taking in the majestic scenery and a true adventure in search of dolphins, minke whales, porpoises, seals and the amazing marine world [sic] life to be found around these beautiful Scottish island [sic]."
Issue
The complainant, who understood that the advertised boat ride was a return trip on a public ferry, challenged whether the claim "island cruise" and the description of the boat ride were misleading.
Response
National Holidays confirmed that the boat ride was a return trip on a ferry, but believed the ad description accurately reflected the excursion offered. They said the boat trip was supplied by Caledonian Macbrayne Ferries (CMF), who had provided the full description of the excursion in the ad. They also provided a link to the CMF website, which contained the claim "Cruise the Sound of Mull" in reference to the ferry ride, and argued that this claim indicated that CMF also marketed their ferry ride as a "cruise". Lastly, they said the complaint was the first they had received about the ad since they began advertising the holiday in April.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA considered consumers were likely to interpret the claim “island cruise” to refer to a trip on a private ship arranged specifically for leisure – typically a holiday – as opposed to transportation. In the context of the claims “a sensational adventure exploring the sea lochs, inlets and islands” and “a true adventure in search of dolphins, minke whales, porpoises, seals and the amazing marine world [sic] life”, they would likely expect the ship to take diversions and to stop off at several places on route to its destination.
We noted, however, that the “island cruise” consisted of a return journey on a public ferry, whereby many customers would likely use the ship solely as a means of transportation. We understood that the ferry travelled directly to its destination without taking any diversions or stopping off along the route, and lasted less than one hour each way. We therefore concluded that the claim “island cruise” and the description of the boat ride were misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told National Holidays Ltd not to state or imply that a short trip on a public ferry with no diversions or stop offs was an “island cruise”.
