Ad description
A website, www.victorialilyevents.co.uk, for an events planner seen on 22 July 2017 featured text that stated “Village Bell Hire Price … Weekend Hire (Friday - Sunday) from £150 …” and below that was a list of what was included with the tent, which stated “Included Fully erect 4 metre bell tent Ground sheet Outside bunting Two solar lights at Bell Tent entrance Air beds for four adults LED light inside Bell Tent Half moon coir carpet inside Bell tent Welcome mat outside Bell tent One rug inside Bell Tent Guest name tags”.
On the gallery page was an image of a bed inside a tent.
Issue
The complainant, who had hired the advertised tent, but found that it did not match what was described and shown in the ad, challenged whether the ad was misleading.
Response
Victoria Lily Events did not respond to our enquiries.
Assessment
The ASA was concerned by Victoria Lily Events lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to provide a substantive response to our enquiries and told them to do so in the future.
Upheld
We understood that the complainant had hired the advertised tent, but had been given one that did not match what was shown and described in the ad. The complainant had provided us with a photo of the tent they received, which showed a thin small sized mattress on the floor with four pillows and a blanket. We considered that given the size of the mattress, it could be used by a maximum of two people.
However, we noted that the internal image of the tent shown on the website showed a much larger bed with pillows, a duvet, blanket and cushions. Furthermore, there were mats and cabinets inside the tent and some green decoration on the centre pole supporting the tent. We also noted that the tent was described as having “Air beds for four adults” and “Bell tent One rug inside”.
Therefore, because the tent the complainant had been given did not match what was described and shown in the ad, we concluded that it was misleading.
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 3.11 3.11 Marketing communications must not mislead consumers by exaggerating the capability or performance of a product. (Exaggeration).
Action
The ad must not appear again its current form. We told Victoria Lily Events that their future advertising must accurately reflect the tents that they hired out to consumers.
