Ad description
A Facebook post by Adwick Caravans dated 5 December 2019 featured text which stated “Chance to win a free Caravan Just Time For Christmas [sic]. The lucky winner will be announced on the 21st of December 2019. For your chance to win here’s what you need to do…Step 1. Like our page. Step 2. Share this post. Step 3 Tag 3 friends. Good luck everyone”.
Issue
The complainant, who believed that a closing date was not expressed, nor confirmation given on which caravan would be won, challenged whether the terms of the promotion had been made sufficiently clear.Response
Adwick Caravans Ltd said that the closing date of the promotion was 21 December 2019. They said they believed both the closing date and the entry process were made clear in the ad.Assessment
Upheld The CAP Code stated that all marketing communications or other material referring to promotions must communicate all applicable significant conditions or information, including a prominent closing date if applicable. The ASA noted the image of a caravan and the accompanying text which stated “Chance to win a free Caravan” and “The lucky winner will be announced on the 21st of December 2019”. No further information on the prize was given, and it was not clear whether the caravan in the image was intended as the prize. We considered that the nature of the prize was important to a potential participants’ understanding of the promotion and was therefore significant information which should have been made clear in the ad. In addition, while we acknowledged Adwick Caravans’ comment that the closing date of the promotion was 21 December 2019, the ad only informed its audience that the winner would be announced on that date, and it was not clear from the ad whether the competition was due to close on the same date that the winner would be announced. Consequently, it was unclear by which date participants needed to complete the three steps required to enter the competition. In light of the above, we considered that the promotion did not communicate all applicable significant conditions or information and we therefore concluded that it breached the Code. The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 8.17 8.17 All marketing communications or other material referring to promotions must communicate all applicable significant conditions or information where the omission of such conditions or information is likely to mislead. Significant conditions or information may, depending on the circumstances, include: and 8.17.4 8.17.4 Closing date(Significant conditions for promotions).
Action
The promotion must not appear again in its current form. We told Adwick Caravans Ltd to ensure that their future promotions communicated all applicable significant conditions or information, including a prominent closing date and the prize on offer.
