Background

Summary of Council decision:

Three issues were investigated, all of which were Not upheld.

Ad description

A TV and radio ad promoted a free delivery offer for The Sun newspaper:

a. The TV ad, seen on 14 and 16 October 2015, included a voice-over which stated “At The Sun we know mornings aren’t pretty, which is why we’ll deliver your copy of The Sun to your door free for 12 weeks … Get Britain’s biggest newspaper delivered free for 12 weeks”. Towards the end of the ad, on-screen text stated “T&C’s apply, 18+, new customers only, delivery charge up to a maximum of £25”.

b. The radio ad, heard on 3 and 14 October 2015, stated “At The Sun we know mornings aren't pretty, which is why we'll deliver your paper free for 12 weeks … Make mornings a little brighter with 12 weeks of The Sun delivered free. New customers only. Cancel before 12 weeks to stop delivery”.

Issue

The ASA received four complaints.

1. Two complainants challenged whether ad (a) was misleading, because they believed the on-screen text contradicted the references to the free delivery.

2. One complainant challenged whether ad (b) was misleading because it did not make clear that only the delivery was free and that consumers would have to pay for the newspaper.

3. One complainant challenged whether ad (b) was misleading because they understood that consumers would need to cancel the service 12 weeks in advance in order to avoid incurring a delivery charge.

Response

1. News UK said that “delivery charge up to a maximum of £25” was used to qualify that the free delivery offer was to cover delivery charges of up to £25 in value.

Clearcast agreed with News UK.

2. News UK said the voice-over in the ad stated “… we’ll deliver your copy of The Sun to your door free for 12 weeks …” and believed that it was clear that consumers would have to pay for the newspaper and that it was the 12 weeks delivery charges which were free.

Radiocentre said the use of the language “we’ll deliver”, the URL deliverymysun.co.uk and “to stop delivery” made it clear that the offer was for the delivery of The Sun newspaper.

3. News UK stated that there was not a requirement for consumers to cancel their delivery agreement 12 weeks in advance and that the advice was to cancel before the 12-week promotional period ended.

RadioCentre agreed with News UK and they believed the line “cancel before 12 weeks to stop delivery” made that clear.

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA considered that viewers were likely to interpret the various “free” claims to mean that they would be able to receive The Sun newspaper for 12 weeks with no delivery charge. While the qualification “delivery charge up to a maximum of £25” could be interpreted to mean that there would be some form of charge for delivery, we considered that the overall impression of the ad was that delivery would be free, up to the value of £25. We understood that News UK would cover the cost for delivery during the promotional period up to the value of £25 and we therefore concluded that the ad was unlikely to mislead.

On that point 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  3.25 3.25 Advertisements must make clear the extent of the commitment consumers must make to take advantage of a "free" offer.
Advertisements must not describe items as "free" if:
 (Free), but did not find it in breach.

2. Not upheld

The ad made reference to delivery by stating “we’ll deliver” and by directing listeners to a URL titled delivermysun.co.uk and we considered that listeners would differentiate between the cost of the newspaper and the cost of the delivery service. We therefore concluded that the ad was unlikely to mislead.

On that point 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), but did not find it in breach.

3. Not upheld

The ASA considered that listeners would be likely to understand “cancel before 12 weeks” to mean that the agreement for delivery would have to be cancelled within the 12-week promotional period. We understood that the promotion ran for 12 weeks and consumers were able to cancel the agreement during that period. We therefore concluded the ad was unlikely to mislead.

On that point 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.  and  3.11 3.11 Qualifications must be presented clearly.
BCAP has published Guidance on Superimposed Text to help television broadcasters ensure compliance with rule  3.1 3.1 Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  . The guidance is available at:
http://www.cap.org.uk/~/media/Files/CAP/Help%20notes%20new/BCAP_Advertising_Guidance_Notes_1.ashx
 (Qualification), but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

BCAP Code

3.1     3.10     3.11     3.2     3.25    


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