Ad description
An ad in Virgin Holidays' "Worldwide" brochure for "Dolphin Bay Atlantis", part of the Atlantis Hotel, Dubai, stated "Dubai's first and only marine animal rescue and rehabilitation facility, Dolphin Bay is a state of the art 4½ hectare lagoon facility featuring 3 interaction coves complete with sandy beaches. Guests are able to choose from 3 unique experiences suitable for different ages and swimming capabilities ... An unbelievable experience, that is fun, educational and conservation minded at the same time".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad was misleading because they understood the dolphins at the facility were wild caught, rather than rescued, and were not rehabilitated or released back into the wild.
Response
Virgin Holidays Ltd (Virgin) said they had worked very closely with Atlantis the Palm resort for a number of years. They submitted a letter from the resort in response to the complaint. The letter stated that the dolphins at the Dolphin Bay facility came from an existing facility, the Solomon Islands Marine Mammal Education Centre. The resort denied partnering with dolphin drive fisheries or non-professional operators and confirmed that all local and international wildlife laws were followed in bringing the dolphins to the resort.
They advised that their definition of "rescue" was to save from a dangerous or distressing situation and by "rehabilitation" they meant providing treatment designed to facilitate the process of recovery from injury, illness, or disease to as normal a condition as possible.
Virgin said that Dolphin Bay at Atlantis, the Palm was equipped with the necessary equipment to save dolphins from danger or distress as a result of sickness or beaching and to rehabilitate them to recovery from injury illness or disease.
Virgin said that, since opening, there had not been any strandings in the area and the resort had not had to use their facilities. However, so that they could be advised of a stranding occurring, they held an Emergency Response Workshop for Dolphin Beach Stranding to help advise relevant marine parties of their facilities and what could be done in the case of coming across a stranding.
Virgin said despite the substantiation provided by the resort, they had taken the decision to remove the claim "Dubai's first and only marine animal rescue and rehabilitation facility" from their marketing.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted the response from Virgin and the letter submitted from the Atlantis, the Palm resort. We considered that the resort was, in a manner of speaking, a rescue and rehabilitation facility for marine animals, in that it had the necessary equipment, expertise and license for this kind of activity. We also noted that, to date, the resort had not rescued or rehabilitated any animals.
We considered that, without further clarification, the average consumer would infer from the claim, "Dubai's first and only marine animal rescue and rehabilitation facility" that the animals at the resort had been rescued and were being rehabilitated with a view to release, where appropriate. Because we understood that this was not the case we concluded that the ad 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) and 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form.
