Ad description

An ad, for a competition, in a catalogue inserted into a magazine. Text on the front page stated “YOU COULD WIN £15,000 or 1 of 25 Great Cash Prizes IN OUR PRIZE DRAW”. Text inside the insert stated “‘YOU HAVE WON OUR SUPER 1st PRIZE OF £15,000.00 CASH’ Dear Friend, Wouldn’t it be great if I were able to break this news to YOU, as THE TOP PRIZEWINNER in our magnificent £25,000.00 Grand Prize Draw? However, I can only pay you the £15,000.00 prize if you send me your entry within the next 30 days, and it is drawn first when the draw takes place. I will definitely be giving away 25 cash prizes worth a staggering £25,000.00 and one of them could be yours! If you’re placing an order, you don’t need to do anything else. Your entry will be automatically verified as soon as I receive your fully completed Official Registration/Order Form - or a telephone or internet order from you - within the next 30 days”.

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that the recipient was certain to win a prize, when that was not the case.

Response

Kingstown Associates Ltd t/a Gardenability said the ad was carefully worded to make it clear that there was £25,000 to be won and that there were 25 prizes. They felt the text inside the catalogue made clear that the first prize was £15,000 and that competition entrants would only win if their entry was drawn first. They highlighted that the claim on the front page of the catalogue stated that recipients “could” win, not that they had won.

They said the text beginning “‘YOU HAVE WON …’” inside the catalogue was a banner to draw the reader’s attention, and was immediately followed by text that clarified how great it would be to be able to break that good news to the recipient, and explained how that could come about.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA considered the text on the front page of the catalogue would be understood by readers to mean that they could win, rather than that they were certain to win, a prize. However, we noted the relevant page inside the catalogue was prominently headed “‘YOU HAVE WON OUR SUPER 1st PRIZE OF £15,000.00 CASH’” and that emphasis was placed in the following text on the words “… YOU … THE TOP PRIZEWINNER …” through the use of bold, red, capitalised and underlined text that contrasted with the normal body-text black font used for the rest of the wording. In the following sentence the wording “pay you the £15,000.00 prize” was underlined. We considered that if read in isolation, those emphasised phrases could give readers the impression that they had definitely won a prize.

Nonetheless, we noted that the text when read in full explained that the headline, which was in speech marks, was not confirmation that the reader had won a prize, but rather communicated that it would “be great” if the advertiser “were able to break this news” to the reader, who was addressed generically as “Dear Friend”. Further text then explained that the reader would win £15,000 if their entry was received within 30 days and was drawn first in the prize draw, that there was a total of 25 cash prizes for which they could be eligible (“one of them could be yours!” was written in bold red text), and how to enter the prize draw.

While we considered the ad drew emphasis to key phrases, which if read in isolation could imply that readers had won a prize, and used unnecessarily circuitous language to explain the prize draw, we considered it did on balance communicate to readers that in order to be entered into the prize draw and be eligible for the cash prizes they must order from the catalogue within 30 days. In that context we considered the ad did not exaggerate readers’ chances of winning prizes or imply that the reader had already won or would win a prize if they entered the prize draw by making a purchase. We concluded the ad was therefore unlikely to mislead.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  and  3.3 3.3 Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer 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 the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
 (Misleading advertising),  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) and  8.20 8.20 Promoters must not exaggerate consumers' chances of winning prizes. They must not include a consumer who has been awarded a gift in a list of prize winners.  (Prize Promotions), but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.3     8.2     8.20    


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