Ad description
A TV ad for a £5 coin by the Westminster Collection seen on 26 March 2016. The ad featured a revolving image of the new coin. A voice-over stated, "To celebrate the 90th Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, we are pleased to announce the release of an official new £5 coin. This coin can be yours for just its face value of £5 and will be sent to you post free, featuring a new specially commissioned 90th Birthday portrait of Her Majesty. Demand for this new £5 coin is certain to be high." The voice-over further said, "Visit www.5poundcoin.com today to secure this valuable keepsake today for you and your family” and “… you just pay the face value of the coin, £5 for £5". On-screen text throughout the majority of the ad stated "£5 for £5". Smaller on-screen text appeared during two segments of the ad which stated "Legal Tender Only in Jersey".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad was misleading because it did not make sufficiently clear that the coin was not legal tender in the UK.
Response
The Westminster Collection said the on-screen qualification "Legal tender only in Jersey" appeared on two occasions for a total of 20 seconds, while in a previous ASA ruling against the Westminster Collection, which was upheld for the exact same issue, the relevant qualification only appeared once, in a smaller size and for a shorter period. In addition, unlike the previous ruling, the qualification was on-screen when the voice-over stated "£5 for £5". They pointed out that the voice-over referred to the product as a “keepsake”, which they believed made clear that the coin was for commemorative purposes. They also pointed out that the word “Jersey” was printed on one side of the coin, which would indicate to viewers that the coin was only legal tender in Jersey. They said that a “£5 coin” was not necessarily from the UK just like, for instance, a $1 denomination was not necessarily from the US as opposed to Canada; it had been described as “official” because it was authorised by the Jersey Treasury and approved by HM The Queen. Lastly, they said since the previous ASA ruling they had run nine campaigns for Jersey or Guernsey £5 coins using similar qualifications to those shown in the ad and had received no complaints.
Clearcast argued that as the qualification appeared during two segments of the ad, viewers who only saw part of the ad were more likely to have seen it. They said that the qualification appeared for one-third of the ad’s duration, it was larger than the minimum requirement, and was larger than other on-screen text regarding the size of the coin and metal type. The qualification had also been positioned separately from other on-screen text to ensure it did not blend in with other disclaimers. Lastly, they believed that consumers would not intend to spend the £5 coin, but would want to keep it for commemorative purposes.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA noted that on-screen text throughout the majority of the ad stated “£5 for £5”, while the voice-over also focused on the face-value of the coin, by stating “£5 for £5”, “… its face value of £5”, “… this new £5 coin” and “… an official new £5 coin”. We considered that viewers could interpret those references alone to mean that the £5 coin could be used to make purchases in the UK. However, we noted that the qualification "legal tender only in Jersey" appeared on two separate occasions during the ad for a total of 20 seconds, and was on-screen when the voice-over said, "£5 for £5". Furthermore, we noted that £5 coins were not commonly used in the UK, and that the voice-over referred to the product as a “valuable keepsake”, which contributed to the impression that the product was a souvenir for commemorative purposes. For those reasons, we considered that viewers would understand that the coin was not legal tender in the UK, and concluded that the ad was not misleading.
We investigated the ad under BCAP Code rules
3.1
3.1
Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
(Misleading Advertising),
3.10
3.10
Advertisements must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.
and
3.11
3.11
Qualifications must be presented clearly.
BCAP has published Guidance on Superimposed Text to help television broadcasters ensure compliance with rule
3.1
3.1
Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
. The guidance is available at:
http://www.cap.org.uk/~/media/Files/CAP/Help%20notes%20new/BCAP_Advertising_Guidance_Notes_1.ashx
(Qualification), but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
