Background
Summary of Council decision:
Three issues were investigated, all of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A paid-for Facebook post and website for Proud & Free, an online jewellery brand, seen on 3 June 2026:
a. The Facebook post stated “We are closing Proud & Free. It has been the most meaningful thing we have ever built and we are grateful for every queer person who ever wore a piece from this store and felt a little more like themselves. What remains we are giving away for free. Because these pieces were made to be worn, not stored away. If something here feels like it was made for you – it was”. It included a poster with wording that stated “We are closing [Heartbreak emoji] [Rainbow flag emoji] It’s June. Pride month. And we are spending it closing. Proud & Free is a queer owned LGBTQ+ pride jewelry [sic] store and we are shutting down for good. Our pages were deleted. Our ads rejected for being too visibly queer. Our products flagged for containing words like pride and transgender. We rebuilt every single time because this community deserved a store that refused to disappear. We ran out of road. Everything in this store is yours for free during pride month. Wear it proud, keep it quiet-just for you, or give it to someone you love this June. Plain discreet packaging. No logos on the outside. Everything is FREE. Just cover the shipping costs. No restocks. If something here was made for you, it was”. Text at the bottom of the post stated “Last few items in stock. Shop now”.
b. The website, proudfree.com, stated “EVERYTHING FREE STORE WIDE UNTIL MIDNIGHT - ONLY PAY FOR SHIPPING AT CHECKOUT!” It further stated “Have questions or need assistance? Our team is here to help [email]”.
The Return Policy page stated “All returns must be approved in writing by our customer support team before being sent back. Packages sent without prior authorization [sic] may be refused and returned to the sender”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the claims:
1. “we are shutting down for good” and “Last few items in stock” in ad (a) were misleading, because they understood that the company was continuing to trade; and
2. “What remains we are giving away for free” and “Everything is FREE” in ad (a), and “EVERYTHING FREE STORE WIDE UNTIL MIDNIGHT - ONLY PAY FOR SHIPPING AT CHECKOUT!” in ad (b) were misleading, because they understood that the cost of shipping had been inflated.
3. The ASA challenged whether by omitting the identity and geographical address of the marketer, ad (b) breached the Code.
Response
Proud & Free did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
Assessment
The ASA was concerned by Proud & Free’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to provide a response to our enquiries and told them to do so in the future.
1. Upheld
The CAP Code stated marketing communications must not falsely claim that a marketer is about to cease trading or move premises and must not falsely state that a product, or the terms on which it is offered, will be available only for a limited time to deprive consumers of the time or opportunity to make an informed choice.
We noted that ad (a) stated that Proud & Free was “closing”, was “shutting down for good” and had the “Last few items in stock”. We considered consumers were likely to understand those claims to mean that Proud & Free was about to cease trading and that only a limited amount of stock remained. We also noted that ad (b) stated “EVERYTHING FREE STORE WIDE UNTIL MIDNIGHT - ONLY PAY FOR SHIPPING AT CHECKOUT!” However, we understood that the offer continued to be advertised beyond the stated midnight deadline and that Proud & Free continued to trade using claims that it was closing down and had limited stock remaining. We considered that the continued use of those claims created a false impression of urgency by suggesting that consumers had only a limited opportunity to take advantage of the offer before Proud & Free ceased trading or the remaining stock was exhausted.
Because ad (a) gave the impression that Proud & Free was about to cease trading and that the products were available only for a limited time, but we had understood that was not the case, we concluded that the ad was misleading.
On that point, ads (a) and (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.30 (Availability).
2. Upheld
The CAP Code stated marketing communications must not describe a product as "free", "gratis", "without charge" or similar if the consumer has to pay anything other than the unavoidable cost of responding and collecting or paying for delivery of the item.
We considered that consumers were likely to understand the claims “What remains we are giving away for free” and “Everything is FREE. Just cover the shipping costs” in ad (a) and “EVERYTHING FREE STORE WIDE UNTIL MIDNIGHT - ONLY PAY FOR SHIPPING AT CHECKOUT!” in ad (b) to mean that they would not have to pay anything for the products themselves, only the unavoidable cost of delivery. We understood that whilst the products were listed on the website for Proud & Free at no cost, consumers were required to pay at least £19 for shipping. We had not seen any evidence to confirm that such a shipping charge represented only the unavoidable cost of delivery, or that it had not been increased to cover some or all of the cost of the products.
We therefore concluded that the claims that the products were “free” were misleading.
On that point, ads (a) and (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation) and 3.23 (Free).
3. Upheld
The CAP Code stated that for marketing communications that quoted prices for advertised products, they must include the identity and business address of the marketer, unless that information was already apparent from the context.
We noted that ad (b) quoted a price for the advertised products by stating that they were “FREE” and that consumers only had to pay shipping costs. While ad (b) did include an email address and a “Contact Us” form, it omitted the geographical address from which the company operated.
We therefore concluded that it breached the Code.
On that point, ad (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.3 and 3.4.2 (Misleading advertising).
Action
Ads (a) and (b) must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Proud & Free to ensure that future ads did not falsely state or imply that they were about to cease trading or that products were available only for a limited time. We also told them not to describe products as “free” where consumers had to pay more than the unavoidable cost of delivery, and to ensure that ads which quoted prices included their trading identity and business address. We referred the matter to CAP’s Compliance team.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
1.7 3.1 3.3 3.4.2 3.7 3.23 3.30
