Ad description

A website, www.wallpaperink.co.uk, seen on 5 October 2017, contained text which stated "40% SALE ENDS TODAY - USE VOUCHER CODE: BIG40".

Issue

The complainant, who reported seeing the offer for a month, challenged whether the "ENDS TODAY" claim was misleading because it implied the offer was available for a limited time only.

Response

wallpaperink.co.uk acknowledged receipt of the complaint. They said they would run a new offer every day in future.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA interpreted wallpaperink.co.uk's response to mean that offers that were advertised as ending on a particular day in future would not be run beyond that day. However, we noted that, after we notified them of the complaint, although wallpaperink.co.uk had amended the claim to state "45% SALE ENDS TODAY - USE VOUCHER CODE: BIG45", that claim, which had first appeared on 15 November 2017, was still appearing in January 2018.

We considered consumers would interpret the ad to mean that the discount was available only during the promotional period, which would finish at the end of the day. However, we had been provided with no evidence to show that the discount had been available only on the day the ad was seen.

Because we had seen no evidence that the discount was available only on the day the ad was seen, we concluded that the claim was misleading.

The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  (Misleading advertising),  3.31 3.31 Marketing communications must not falsely claim that the marketer is about to cease trading or move premises. They must not falsely state that a product, or the terms on which it is offered, will be available only for a very limited time to deprive consumers of the time or opportunity to make an informed choice.  (Availability) and 8.17.4e (Significant conditions for promotions).

Action

The claim must not appear again in its current form. We told wallpaperink.co.uk to ensure their marketing communications did not misleadingly imply products were on promotion for a limited period.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.31     8.17.4.E    


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