Ad description

A direct mailing from The World of Treats, received on 20 May 2011, featured text on the front of the envelope stating "WINNING LETTER. DELIVERY OF £11,500.00. Please note: We received a reply concerning the £11,500.00 but we didn't recognise your signature ...".

Inside, a page headed "IDENTITY VERIFICATION LETTER FOR DELIVERY OF £11,500.00" featured text stating "Confirmed Winner in "Delivery of £ 11,500.00" draw. FINAL VERIFICATION BEFORE PAYMENT OF £ 11,500.00 ... as the winner, you alone are authorised to claim the prize you have just won in the ‘Delivery of £ 11,500.00’ draw ... Therefore you are urgently requested to complete the Prize Acceptance Form for £ 11,500.00 and sign it in order to receive what you're entitled to. My signature below is undisputable proof that you really have a winning letter in your hands. Congratulations! Reply now! ...".

Another page was headed "CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY Name, Surname: XX XXXXX. Status: Winner looked for to receive her prize. Name of draw: Delivery of £ 11,500.00. Dispatch time for cheque: within 48 hours". Text stated "You're certain to receive your prize if you simply reply to this letter. But don't return this document: it must be kept until the prize is actually delivered". The ad then featured a "fingerprint of manager" and "signatures of members of management". Small print stated "Terms and conditions apply".

Another page headed "Message for your attention" contained text stating "... You'll find it easy to understand why we can't take the risk of sending a cheque as big as £11,500.000 to the wrong person. We're hoping you'll also take this opportunity to place an order to make my whole team happy: here, everyone does everything possible to find you as quickly as possible and send you your prize ... Browse through our brand new brochure and choose the item or items you want...".

The mailing contained a "PRIZE ACCEPTANCE FORM" which contained text stating "... Reminder of main prize: £11,500.00 ... FINAL VERIFICATION BEFORE PAYMENT OF £11,500.00 ...". The form also contained a tick box which stated "YES, I certify on my honour that I am the rightful beneficiary of a prize in the "Delivery of £11,500.00 draw". Next to a signature and date box, text stated "I have read the terms and conditions and I accept them".

On the reverse of the PRIZE ACCEPTANCE FORM, terms and conditions stated "... 7. Each participant who submits a valid entry form in compliance with the terms and conditions will also receive a prize referred to in this promotion as ‘your prize’ and which consists of a voucher cheque each with a redeemable value of £2.00 only against future purchases of the promoter's products...".

Another page featured text stating "To receive what we owe you, XX XXXXX, please follow the reply procedure below: 1 Complete and above all SIGN your Prize Acceptance Form. 2 Protect your signature using the Security Seal included in this letter. 3 Place an order from the brochure enclosed to benefit from Free Priority Processing. 4 Return everything to us in the Special Reply Envelope which guarantees your letter will receive priority processing. You will then receive your prize as soon as possible!".

Issue

Suffolk Trading Standards and another complainant challenged whether the direct mailing was misleading as it implied the recipient had won £11,500, which they did not believe was genuine.

Response

Die Schlanke Silhouette (DSS), the parent company of The World of Treats who replied on their behalf, said their mailing was genuine and the prize was real. They said they included detailed terms and conditions and these were mentioned in various parts of the body copy of the mailing. Customers were required to sign to confirm they had read the terms and conditions when they returned the entry form.

They explained that the prize draw for the promotion was called "Delivery of £11,500.00" and each recipient of the mailing was allocated a unique entry number prior to dispatch of the documents. One customer was the winner of the main prize of £11,500.00, on the basis of their unique entry number being drawn by an independent person prior to dispatch of the documents. They said that so long as the main prize winner returned their entry form before the deadline of 31 December 2011, they would receive the £11,500.00 prize fund. All other recipients of the mailing had won a smaller prize, a voucher cheque, which was referred to in the promotion as "your prize". Consumers did not need to buy anything to be entered into the prize draw, but if they did, they received their voucher cheque straight away in the parcel with their order, whereas other people who had not placed an order had to wait to receive their voucher cheque. They said the person who had notified Trading Standards about the prize draw would receive a voucher cheque at a later date because they had not placed an order.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA understood that the person who had brought this matter to the attention of Suffolk Trading Standards, and the other complainant, had not won the main prize of £11,500 but that they, along with other recipients of the mailings except the main prize winner, would be given a £2 money-off voucher at some later unidentified date, unless they had placed an order with The World of Treats in which case their voucher dispatch would get priority processing.

We noted that the body of the mailing contained small print stating "terms and conditions apply" and that text next to the signature box stated "I have read the terms and conditions and accept them". We further noted that the terms and conditions were featured on the reverse of the prize acceptance form. We considered that although the terms and conditions referred to the £2 voucher cheque which was the "prize" for all but one of the participants in the draw, this was contradicted by the overall impression of the mailing which was that the recipient had won the £11,500 prize due to the repeated references to "DELIVERY OF £11,500.00", "FINAL VERIFICATION BEFORE PAYMENT OF £11,500.00" and "you are urgently requested to complete the Prize Acceptance Form for £11,500.00". We also considered that the £2 money-off voucher should have been described as a "gift" and not a "prize" because everyone who was entered into the draw qualified for the voucher.

We concluded that because the mailing gave the overall impression that the recipient had won the main prize of £11,500, whereas in fact they had been awarded a £2 voucher for The World of Treats' products, 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),  8.2 8.2 Promoters must conduct their promotions equitably, promptly and efficiently and be seen to deal fairly and honourably with participants and potential participants. Promoters must avoid causing unnecessary disappointment.  (Sales promotions),  8.14 8.14 Promoters must ensure that their promotions are conducted under proper supervision and make adequate resources available to administer them. Promoters, agencies and intermediaries should not give consumers justifiable grounds for complaint.  (Administration) and  8.19 8.19 Promoters must not claim that consumers have won a prize if they have not. The distinction between prizes and gifts, or equivalent benefits, must always be clear. Ordinarily, consumers may expect an item offered to a significant proportion of participants to be described as a ‘gift’, while an item offered to a small minority may be more likely to be described as a ‘prize’. If a promotion offers a gift to a significant proportion and a prize to a minority, special care is needed to avoid confusing the two: the promotion must, for example, state clearly that consumers “qualify” for the gift but have merely an opportunity to win the prize. If a promotion includes, in a list of prizes, a gift for which consumers have qualified, the promoter must distinguish clearly between the two.  (Prize promotions).

Action

The mailing must not appear again in its current form. We told The World of Treats to ensure that mailings for future prize promotions make clear whether a recipient has qualified for a gift or has won the main prize.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.7     8.14     8.19     8.2    


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