Ad description
A paid-for Facebook post seen in August 2025 for Domestika, an online course provider, featured an image carousel. The first image featured the text, “Learn character design”, “98% OFF”, along with the struck through price “£49.99” and an arrow pointing to the price “£0.99”. A caption stated, “Learn from expert professionals and join the largest online community for creatives”.
Issue
Two complainants, who understood that the £0.99 price was only available when signing up to a free trial for a subscription, challenged whether the ad was misleading.
Response
Domestika Inc believed that the ad and purchase process were clear and transparent, and that consumers were fully informed about the offer and its conditions.
They stated that the ad promoted a character design course at a reduced price of £0.99 as a time-limited offer, available only when starting a 30-day free trial of Domestika Plus. When users clicked on the ad they were presented with two pricing options, either the discounted rate linked to the free trial or the regular price without a subscription. The banner and payment page both made clear that the reduced price was conditional on starting the trial and showed the amount that would be charged after the trial period.
Domestika Inc stated that the payment page set out the terms of the Domestika Plus subscription above the course details. They said that users could cancel the subscription before completing the purchase, which automatically changed the price to the standard rate. After purchase, users received an email confirming the subscription and providing information on how to manage or cancel it. All subscription details were also available in the user’s profile.
Domestika Inc said they were committed to ensuring their advertising was legal, decent, honest and truthful.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA considered that consumers would understand from the ad that the character design course was being offered at a discounted price, reduced from £49.99 to £0.99, as a one-off purchase. The use of the claims “98% OFF” and “£0.99” alongside the struck through price “£49.99” gave the impression of a time-limited offer for a standalone course.
However, we understood that was not the case. To buy the course for £0.99, consumers had to sign up to a 30-day free trial of Domestika Plus. The trial automatically renewed into a yearly subscription costing £269 unless cancelled. We understood that Domestika Plus was a subscription service that gave access to a range of courses which changed on a monthly basis. Consumers could keep the courses permanently either by using credits obtained as part of the subscription or by making an additional purchase. Consumers did not need to be a subscriber to Domestika Plus to access courses that they had bought. We understood that as part of the offer, if consumers signed up to the free trial, they could buy the full course to keep for £0.99. However, if consumers opted out of the free trial, the price of the course reverted to the full price of £49.99.
Because consumers would understand that the offer was a one-off purchase, when in fact it was only available when signing up to a free trial of a subscription, we concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.17 (Prices).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the current form. We told Domestika Inc to ensure their future advertisings did not misleadingly give the impression that their offers were available as a one-off purchase, if that was not the case.
