Background
Summary of Council decision:
Three issues were investigated, all of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A TV ad and website promoting a weekly magazine, published by Hachette Partworks, seen in January 2018:
a. The TV ad featured a voice-over that stated, "Remember the world famous Routemaster? Now you can build your own authentic replica Routemaster. Engineered with exceptional detail including working lights and bell. Week by week follow simple instructions to construct this iconic bus. Plus explore the story of the Routemaster in your magazine. Own your piece of British transport history. Build the Routemaster. Issue one just 1.99".
During the ad, white text appeared on the top right-hand side of the screen, which stated "130 issues. Usual price £8.99", and the website address "www.buildtheroutemaster.com" was shown at the bottom of the screen.
b. The website www.buildtheroutemaster.com, featured text that stated, "LEGENDARY ROUTEMASTER BUS Own your own piece of British Transport history with this official model featuring accurate details, working parts and lighting. Issue by issue, bring one of the world's most famous buses to life!". Below this was a button with the text "START YOUR SUBSCRIPTION".
The website also featured the text "CREATE YOUR OWN REPLICA OF THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS BUS" and featured a roundel with the text "ISSUE 1 ONLY £1.99". At the bottom of the ad was another roundel with text that stated "ISSUE 2 ONLY £4.99".
At the top-half of the page was an image of the fully assembled model with small print underneath it that stated "Model complete in 130 issues".
Issue
The ASA received eight complaints.
1. Four complainants challenged whether ad (a) was misleading by not making sufficiently clear the total number of magazines consumers had to purchase to fully assemble the advertised model.
2. Five complainants challenged whether ad (a) was misleading by not making sufficiently clear the normal selling price of subsequent magazines.
3. One complainant challenged whether ad (b) was misleading by not making sufficiently clear the normal selling price of subsequent magazines as well as the total number required to fully assemble the advertised model.
Response
1. & 2. Clearcast stated that the ad included the on-screen text "130 issues. Usual price £8.99". They believed that the text made clear to consumers the total number of issues required to fully assemble the advertised model and the cost of subsequent magazines after issue one. Furthermore, the text used in the ad was in-line with their long held practice for part works of that nature.
Clearcast stated that Hachette Partworks Ltd were entitled to promote their product in the best possible light, in the interests of trade and competition in the marketplace. In this case, that was to heavily promote the first issue at a discounted introductory price.
Clearcast stated that the on-screen text "130 issues. Usual price £8.99" was clearly legible in the top right-hand corner of the screen and therefore, did not require greater prominence.
Hachette Partworks supported Clearcast's response.
3. Hachette Partworks believed that they had made it clear in several places on their website the cost of subsequent issues of the magazine and the total number required to fully assemble the advertised model. They said that the home page showed an image of the fully assembled model with the text "Model complete in 130 issues …". Furthermore, their "FAQ" page stated the cost of each issue and the number of copies required to assemble the model. They also pointed to their "How it Works" page which stated "Each month you will receive 4 issues delivered to your door with free P&P. Each issue costs £8.99, with the exception of issue 1 at £1.99 and issue 2 at £4.99. As part of your subscription benefits, one of your issues in your first delivery will be FREE and you will also receive 5 FREE gifts during the course of your collection. Be completely satisfied, or your money back*". They believed that made it clear to consumers how their subscription worked and the financial commitment entailed to it. They stated that the checkout stage also made it clear to consumers that they would be joining a paid-for subscription service.
Assessment
1. & 2. Upheld
The ASA considered consumers would understand from the ad that the magazine was a paid-for weekly publication that came with the parts required to assemble the advertised model.
We noted that the ad featured a moving graphic in the form of a price tag, that stated "ISSUE 1 ONLY £1.99" in block capitals with the price presented in a yellow colour. Furthermore, as the price tag moved towards the camera it expanded in size. The on-screen text was accompanied by the voice-over which emphasised that the first issue cost only £1.99. We considered that the ad placed significant prominence on the cost of the first issue of the magazine.
We understood that for consumers to fully assemble the advertised model, they had to commit to a paid-for subscription service and purchase a total number of 130 magazines, which had a usual selling price of £8.99. That meant that the overall cost to fully assemble the model was over £1,000. We considered that the financial commitment consumers had to agree to in order to fully assemble the advertised model had to be made sufficiently clear in the ad.
We noted the on-screen text "130 issues. Usual price £8.99" stated the number of magazines consumers had to purchase in order to fully assemble the advertised model, and that the usual selling price of the magazine was £8.99. However, the text was placed in the top right-hand corner of the ad, which may have been overlooked by viewers. Furthermore, the text was in a significantly smaller font than the £1.99 price claim and was not referenced by the voice-over, which instead referenced the £1.99 cost of the first issue.
We therefore considered that the on-screen text "130 issues. Usual price £8.99" was not sufficiently prominent and likely to have been overlooked by consumers.
Because the ad did not make sufficiently clear the total number of magazines consumers had to purchase and did not make clear the normal selling price of the magazine, we concluded that the ad was misleading.
On those points ad (a) breached BCAP Code rules
3.1
3.1
The standards objectives, insofar as they relate to advertising, include:
a) that persons under the age of 18 are protected;
b) that material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder is not included in television and radio services;
c) that the proper degree of responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes;
d) that generally accepted standards are applied to the contents of television and radio services so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from inclusion in such services of offensive and harmful material;
e) that the inclusion of advertising which may be misleading, harmful or offensive in television and radio services is prevented;
f) that the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to advertising included in television and radio services are complied with [in particular in respect of television those obligations set out in Articles 3b, 3e,10, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 22 of Directive 89/552/EEC (the Audi Visual Media Services Directive)];
g) that there is no use of techniques which exploit the possibility of conveying a message to viewers or listeners, or of otherwise influencing their minds, without their being aware, or fully aware, of what has occurred"
Section 319(2).
3.2
3.2
Advertisements must not mislead consumers by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that consumers need in context to make informed decisions about whether or how to buy a product or service. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead consumers depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the advertisement is constrained by time or space, the measures that the advertiser takes to make that information available to consumers by other means.
(Misleading advertising),
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
The standards objectives, insofar as they relate to advertising, include:
a) that persons under the age of 18 are protected;
b) that material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder is not included in television and radio services;
c) that the proper degree of responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes;
d) that generally accepted standards are applied to the contents of television and radio services so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from inclusion in such services of offensive and harmful material;
e) that the inclusion of advertising which may be misleading, harmful or offensive in television and radio services is prevented;
f) that the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to advertising included in television and radio services are complied with [in particular in respect of television those obligations set out in Articles 3b, 3e,10, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 22 of Directive 89/552/EEC (the Audi Visual Media Services Directive)];
g) that there is no use of techniques which exploit the possibility of conveying a message to viewers or listeners, or of otherwise influencing their minds, without their being aware, or fully aware, of what has occurred"
Section 319(2).
. The guidance is available at:
http://www.cap.org.uk/~/media/Files/CAP/Help%20notes%20new/BCAP_Advertising_Guidance_Notes_1.ashx
(Qualification) and
3.18
3.18
Price statements must not mislead by omission, undue emphasis or distortion. They must relate to the product or service depicted in the advertisement.
(Prices).
3. Upheld
We considered that the claim "START YOUR SUBSCRIPTION" along with the price tag image adjacent to it ("ISSUE 1 ONLY £1.99"), would be understood by consumers that they would have to commit to a paid-for subscription service in order to fully assemble the advertised model.
We considered that the financial commitment consumers had to agree to in order to fully assemble the advertised model had to be made sufficiently clear from the outset in the consumer journey, and therefore appear in the ad itself.
However, we noted that the text "Model complete in 130 issues" was located further down the web page underneath an image of the fully assembled model. In comparison to most of the text that appeared in the ad, this was in a font size that was substantially smaller, which we considered was likely to be overlooked by consumers. Furthermore, whilst the bottom of the ad stated that the second issue would cost £4.99, no other pricing information regarding the cost of subsequent magazines was provided, which we considered needed to be made prominently clear to consumers.
Because of that, we considered that ad (b) did not make sufficiently clear the total number of magazines consumers had to purchase, as well as the associated costs of following issues, in order to fully assemble the advertised model. We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.
On that point ad (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
The standards objectives, insofar as they relate to advertising, include:
a) that persons under the age of 18 are protected;
b) that material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder is not included in television and radio services;
c) that the proper degree of responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes;
d) that generally accepted standards are applied to the contents of television and radio services so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from inclusion in such services of offensive and harmful material;
e) that the inclusion of advertising which may be misleading, harmful or offensive in television and radio services is prevented;
f) that the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to advertising included in television and radio services are complied with [in particular in respect of television those obligations set out in Articles 3b, 3e,10, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 22 of Directive 89/552/EEC (the Audi Visual Media Services Directive)];
g) that there is no use of techniques which exploit the possibility of conveying a message to viewers or listeners, or of otherwise influencing their minds, without their being aware, or fully aware, of what has occurred"
Section 319(2).
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising),
3.1
3.1
The standards objectives, insofar as they relate to advertising, include:
a) that persons under the age of 18 are protected;
b) that material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder is not included in television and radio services;
c) that the proper degree of responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes;
d) that generally accepted standards are applied to the contents of television and radio services so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from inclusion in such services of offensive and harmful material;
e) that the inclusion of advertising which may be misleading, harmful or offensive in television and radio services is prevented;
f) that the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to advertising included in television and radio services are complied with [in particular in respect of television those obligations set out in Articles 3b, 3e,10, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 22 of Directive 89/552/EEC (the Audi Visual Media Services Directive)];
g) that there is no use of techniques which exploit the possibility of conveying a message to viewers or listeners, or of otherwise influencing their minds, without their being aware, or fully aware, of what has occurred"
Section 319(2).
(Qualification) and
3.1
3.1
The standards objectives, insofar as they relate to advertising, include:
a) that persons under the age of 18 are protected;
b) that material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder is not included in television and radio services;
c) that the proper degree of responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes;
d) that generally accepted standards are applied to the contents of television and radio services so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from inclusion in such services of offensive and harmful material;
e) that the inclusion of advertising which may be misleading, harmful or offensive in television and radio services is prevented;
f) that the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to advertising included in television and radio services are complied with [in particular in respect of television those obligations set out in Articles 3b, 3e,10, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 22 of Directive 89/552/EEC (the Audi Visual Media Services Directive)];
g) that there is no use of techniques which exploit the possibility of conveying a message to viewers or listeners, or of otherwise influencing their minds, without their being aware, or fully aware, of what has occurred"
Section 319(2).
(Prices).
Action
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Hachette Partworks Ltd that their future advertising must make sufficiently clear the total number of magazines that must be purchased, along with associated costs, that consumers must commit to in order to fully assemble the advertised model.
