Ad description

A sales promotion on www.greatbritishlife.co.uk, was headlined "WIN A WEEKS LUXURY FAMILY HOLIDAY". Text below stated "In conjunction with Cornwall Life magazine, Late Lettings are offering readers the chance to win a week's holiday at Tresooth Cottages in Falmouth for up to six guests including use of the outdoor swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna, children's play area and indoor games room". Text at the bottom stated "Terms and Conditions: The holiday can be taken at any time until 30 June, 2013, excluding school and bank holidays."

Issue

The complainant, who complained via the Institute of Promotional Marketing (IPM), challenged whether the promotion had been conducted fairly because the family holiday could not be taken during school holidays.

Response

Archant Life Ltd said they believed that the terms and conditions of the competition were displayed clearly and in good proximity to the competition question and made clear that school and bank holidays were excluded. They said the term "family" could refer to any age group and not specifically school age children. However, they took on board the complainant's comments and in the interest of presenting such prizes openly and honestly in the eyes of all readers in the future they would ensure that, if a competition prize was not available within school holidays, they would not use the term "family" in any reference and would also remove any references to facilities provided for children within the prize description.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA considered that consumers would infer from the claim "family holiday" that the holiday would be available to families with children of all ages and therefore could be taken during school holidays. Although we noted that text further down the page explained that school holidays were excluded, we considered that this contradicted, rather than clarified, the headline claim. We concluded that the promotion was misleading.

The promotion breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  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  8.14 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).

Action

The promotion must not appear again in its current form. We told Archant Life not to refer to "family holidays" in their advertising unless those holidays were available during school holidays.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

8.14     8.2    


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