Ad description
An Instagram post by Rock N Roll Circus, seen on 18 July, featured the text “[siren emoji] GIVEAWAY TIME [siren emoji] Win 4 VIP tickets to see @bryanadams at Rock N Roll Circus – with special guest @melaniecmusic […] Enter via the link in our bio”.
Issue
The complainant, who had been told they had won a prize but had been unable to claim it, challenged whether the ad omitted significant conditions of the promotion.
Response
AGN Events t/a Rock N Roll Circus said that before publishing the ad they took steps to ensure it complied with the CAP Code, such as checking the ad copy and providing terms and conditions.
They stated that the deadline to enter the competition was clearly stated on the competition landing page in a prominent location to ensure that all entrants were aware of the timeframe for participation in the promotion. They said the deadline to claim the prize was clearly stated within the “competition details” section on the same landing page. They considered that there was sufficient information for consumers to be able to understand both the competition closing date, and the deadline to claim the competition prize, before entering.
Rock N Roll Circus said the email sent to competition winners clearly stated the deadline for claiming the prize. They believed the wording was clear, unambiguous and unlikely to mislead. The terms and conditions of the promotion specified how winners would be contacted, and the timeframe in which they were required to claim the prize. They had a link to the competition terms and conditions in their social media bio. For those reasons, Rock N Roll Circus believed they had complied with the CAP Code.
They provided a copy of the terms and conditions for the promotion, as well as a partial screenshot of the competition landing page.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code required that marketing communications for promotions communicated all applicable significant conditions or information where the omission of such information was likely to mislead. Such information included how to participate, and other factors likely to influence a consumer’s decision or understanding about a promotion.
We understood that the complainant received an email informing them that they had won free concert tickets, which had to be claimed within the following three days. However, the information that there was a deadline which the prize had to be claimed by was not included in the ad itself. We considered that this was significant information that needed to have been communicated to entrants within the ad in order for them to understand fully how to participate, especially given the short time frame in which winners were required to claim the prize.
We acknowledged Rock N Roll Circus had stated that information about the deadline to claim the prize was featured on the competition landing page. However, the screenshot of the competition landing page they provided was partial and did not include that information. Rock N Roll Circus had not provided, upon request, a full screenshot of the landing page as it would have appeared at the time of the competition. We were therefore unable to assess whether the landing page made that information sufficiently clear to consumers. Regardless of that, we considered because the deadline was significant information about how to participate, the omission of that information from the ad itself was likely to mislead.
Because the ad omitted significant information concerning the deadline to claim the prize, we concluded that it was likely to mislead and the promotion had not been administered fairly.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 8.2 (Promotional marketing), 8.14 (Administration) and 8.17 and 8.17.1 (Significant conditions for promotions).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told AGN Events t/a Rock N Roll Circus to ensure that ads for future promotions communicated all significant information that was likely to affect consumers’ understanding of how to participate.
