Ad description
A prize promotion, which appeared on a social media page of a Rugby League clothing company, offered entrants the opportunity to win a t-shirt.
Issue
The complainant, who had been announced as the winner but had not received their prize, challenged whether the promotion breached the Code.
Response
UrbanRugby did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by UrbanRugby's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 1.7 Any unreasonable delay in responding to the ASA's enquiries will normally be considered a breach of the Code. (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and we told them to do so in future.
The Code stated that promoters must award the prizes as described in their marketing communications, or reasonable equivalents.
We noted from correspondence supplied by the complainant that in January 2015 they had been informed that they had won the competition and that their prize would be posted to them the following week. We understood, however, that the prize had not arrived by that time. The complainant had made several enquiries and had each time been told that the prize would be despatched shortly, but had not received it.
Because we understood that the prize had not been delivered to the complainant, and because UrbanRugby had not supplied evidence that it had been sent, we concluded that the promotion was in breach of the Code.
The promotion breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 8.15.1 8.15.1 Promoters must award the prizes as described in their marketing communications or reasonable equivalents, normally within 30 days. (Sales promotions - administration).
Action
The promotion must not be run again in its current form. We told UrbanRugby to ensure that they awarded the prizes as described in their marketing communications, and that, in future promotions, they were able, if asked, to provide documentation demonstrating the awarding of prizes. We referred the matter to CAP's Compliance team.
