Ad description
An ad on an employment agency website stated "PRINCE2 Training For £199 theknowledgeacedmy.com/Prince2 Overview Foundation & Practitioner. 5 Day PRINCE2 Training And Exam".
Issue
An internet user challenged whether the claim "PRINCE2 Training For £199 ... Overview Foundation & Practitioner 5 Day PRINCE2 Training And Exam" was misleading and could be substantiated, because they were unable to find the course for that price.
Response
The Knowledge Academy Ltd said training was available for £199 but, because of an error, the ad did not include text stating that the duration of the course was one day without examination.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA understood that the Knowledge Academy offered a number of courses varying in length and price and the claim "Training For £199" was intended to be a reference to a one-day 'Overview' course.
However, we considered that the claim "Overview Foundation & Practitioner 5 Day PRINCE2 Training And Exam" gave the impression that one course was being advertised, which covered all the aspects mentioned, rather than a claim of the availability of a number of different courses. We also considered that, because the only other claim in the ad was "Training For £199", consumers would understand the cost of the advertised five-day training and exam would be £199, which was not the case.
We considered that the ad gave a misleading impression of what was available for the advertised price and therefore concluded that the ad breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising), 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation) and 3.17 3.17 Price statements must not mislead by omission, undue emphasis or distortion. They must relate to the product featured in the marketing communication. (Prices).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told the Knowledge Academy Ltd to ensure that future ads clearly stated the nature of the course on offer for the advertised price.
