Background
This Ruling forms part of a wider piece of work on ‘closing down’ claims for product ranges in social media ads. The ad was identified for investigation following intelligence gathered by our Active Ad Monitoring system, which uses AI to proactively search for online ads that might break the rules. See also related rulings published on 9 October 2024.
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A paid-for Facebook ad for Ashlen, an online jewellery and clothing retailer, seen in July 2023, featured images of hair pins in the shape of swords, alongside text stating “Sadly, we are closing our sword hair pin collection. Last chance, everything 60% off!”. A link stated, “Shop Now” alongside text stating “Ashlen.co SWORD HAIR PIN 60% OFF WHILE STOCKS LAST!!”.
Issue
The ASA understood that the sword hair pin collection was still available to purchase on Ashlen’s website several months later, challenged whether the:
1. claim “we are closing our sword hair pin collection” was misleading; and
2. absence of a closing date for the promotion in the ad breached the Code.
Response
Ashlen Inc did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
Assessment
The ASA was concerned by Ashlen’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
1. Upheld
We considered the claim “Sadly, we are closing our sword hair pin collection. Last chance […] while stocks last” would be understood by consumers to mean that the sword hair pin collection was going to be withdrawn from their website and that they should respond soon if they wanted to purchase the items in the collection before they became unavailable.
The ad appeared in July 2023. Further paid-for ads that featured the claim that the sword hair pin collection was closing had appeared over the subsequent 12 months, with one ad still active in July 2024. Additionally, the sword hair pin collection was still available for purchase on Ashlen’s website in July 2024, 12 months after the original ad appeared and had not therefore been withdrawn. For those reasons, we considered that the claim “we are closing our sword hair pin collection” was misleading.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 (Misleading advertising).
2. Upheld
The CAP Code required that ads for promotions must communicate all applicable significant conditions or information where the omission of such conditions or information was likely to mislead. Closing dates for promotions must be included in marketing communications if they were likely to influence consumers’ decision or understanding about the promotion. The Code also required that promoters must be able to demonstrate that the absence of a closing date would not disadvantage consumers.The ad promoted a closing-down sale and included references to “Last chance” and “Shop Now” but did not specify a closing date. We considered that the duration of the promotional period was information likely to influence consumers’ understanding or decisions about the promotion and was therefore a significant condition, the absence of which was likely to mislead. Furthermore, Ashlen had not demonstrated that the absence of a closing date did not disadvantage consumers. We therefore concluded that the ad breached the Code on that basis.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 8.17.4.a and 8.17.4.c (Significant conditions for promotions).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Ashlen Inc to ensure that their future marketing communications did not mislead consumers by stating that collections were closing down if that was not the case. We also told them to ensure that future marketing communications for promotions included closing dates unless they could demonstrate that their absence would not disadvantage consumers. We referred the matter to CAP’s Compliance team.
