Ad description
A post on the Facebook page for Asha’s, an Indian restaurant, dated 13 July 2017, stated “*** Competition Time*** We have 5 x pairs of weekend tickets to give away for the Tatton Park Foodie Festival this week end [sic] Friday 14th, Sat 15th and Sunday 16th July - Like & Share our page for a chance to ***win*** - Winner announced 5pm tomo [sic].”
Issue
The complainant, who understood that the prizes had been awarded to the promoter’s friends, challenged whether the prizes had been awarded in accordance with the laws of chance.
Response
Asha’s Restaurants International Ltd said that the winners of the promotion were randomly selected by the Sales and Marketing manager from people who liked their Facebook page.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted that the CAP Code required that promoters of prize draws must ensure that prizes were awarded in accordance with the laws of chance and, unless winners were selected by a computer process that produced verifiably random results, by an independent person or under the supervision of an independent person.
We noted that Asha’s said that the winners of the promotion had been selected at random by the Sales and Marketing Manager. However, we had not seen evidence to demonstrate that the winners had been selected under the supervision of an independent person or that Asha’s had used a verifiably random computer process to select the winner. In the absence of such evidence, we considered that Asha’s had not demonstrated that the prize had been awarded in accordance with the laws of chance or that participants had been dealt with fairly. We therefore concluded that the promotion breached the Code.
The promotion breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 8.2 8.2 Promoters must conduct their promotions equitably, promptly and efficiently and be seen to deal fairly and honourably with participants and potential participants. Promoters must avoid causing unnecessary disappointment. and 8.24 8.24 Promoters of prize draws must ensure that prizes are awarded in accordance with the laws of chance and, unless winners are selected by a computer process that produces verifiably random results, by an independent person, or under the supervision of an independent person. (Promotional marketing).
Action
We told Asha’s Restaurants International Ltd to ensure in future that prizes were awarded in accordance with the laws of chance and, unless winners were selected by a computer process that produced verifiably random results, by an independent person or under the supervision of an independent person.
