Advertisment
Advertising appeared across social media and was for promotional code ‘TREASURE24’ which entitled the bearer to a 24% discount on admissions to Emerald Park over a period of several weeks.
Terms and conditions were not referenced
Complaint
Four complaints were received regarding the promotion. The four complainants had tried to avail of the discount but were told it was no longer available. One complainant was told by a staff member of Emerald Park that the promotion had ceased approximately halfway through the advertised campaign.
Response
The advertisers responded that they did not intend to mislead or confuse consumers. They pointed out that their terms and conditions contained the following provisos: –
‘Promotion codes are only valid on specific products, while stocks last and may be withdrawn at any time.’
‘We reserve the right to change these terms and conditions at any time.’
The advertisers believed that these conditions had shown that closing the competition when they did was not ‘intentionally misleading’.
Conclusion
Complaint Upheld
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response.
The Complaints Committee noted that the advertising had not referred to existence of terms and conditions. They noted that these terms included that “‘Promotion codes are only valid on specific products, while stocks last and may be withdrawn at any time.’ and ‘We reserve the right to change these terms and conditions at any time.’
The Code requires that promoters should avoid causing unnecessary disappointment for consumers and that promoters should be able to demonstrate that they had made a reasonable estimate of the likely response to a promotion. Where used, phrases such as “subject to availability” do not relieve promoters of the obligation to take all reasonable steps to avoid disappointing participants.
The Complaints Committee noted that the advertising had not indicated that there was a limited availability on the number of visitors who could avail of the discount code. They also noted that the promotion was closed early. In the circumstances, they considered that the advertising was in breach of Sections 4.1, 4.4, 5.4, 5.5, 5.11, and 5.12 of the Code.
ACTION REQUIRED:
The advertising must not appear again in the current format.
