Ad description
A prize promotion on bmi regional's Facebook page featured a post that stated "Enter our competition to win a family trip to Legoland Billund with bmi regional! Competition ends in 30 September! ... Flights across the UK and Europe with bmi regional - Win a family trip to Legoland in Billund! ... Win a family trip to Legoland in Billund! - bmi regional, UK's most punctual airline. We operate over 450 flights a week to 24 destinations across the UK and Europe. Enjoy all the benefits you would expect ...".
The ad clicked through to a page headed "Win a family trip to Legoland in Billund!" The body copy stated "bmi regional have teamed up with Legoland in Billund to give you the chance of winning the trip of a lifetime! We're sending one lucky family of two adults and two children to Legoland in Billund for a two night stay, including free entry into the park and free flights! To enter our competition, simply enter your details below and we'll pick a random winner on 30 September 2013. Good luck!" Beneath this were text boxes titled "Email address", "First Name", "Last Name", and "Preferred departure airport" respectively. The ad included a button labelled "Enter" and a link to "Terms and conditions".
The Terms and Conditions link clicked through to a page that stated "9. There shall be one prize ("the Prize") which consists of: Two night stay for family of four at LEGOLAND Billund resort, with free entry to resort for three days Flights: Four outbound flights from Birmingham to Billund (date to be confirmed), and four return flights from Billund to Birmingham (date to be confirmed). Flights are courtesy of bmi regional and must be taken before 30 June 2014 Accommodation: two nights in a family room, courtesy of LEGOLAND Billund ... Transfers are not included in the prize ... 21. Should for any reason the flights to the destination get cancelled indefinitely by the airline, the prize will be changed to another destination on the bmi regional network of the winners choice [sic], and accommodation will be offered in a three star hotel for two nights for a family consisting of two adults and two children. The entry to the attraction (Legoland Billund) will in this case not be replaced and no alternative will be offered... ".
Issue
The complainant, who was informed that the prize was no longer available, challenged whether the promotion had been administered fairly.
Response
British Midland Regional Ltd t/a bmi said that between the winner being notified of their prize and the point when they attempted to book return flights from Birmingham to Billund, bmi ceased to run flights on that route. They said that, in accordance with their terms and conditions, they offered the winner alternative flights to Gothenburg from Birmingham; that offer was declined by the winner.
Bmi said they then offered the winner flights from Stansted to Billund with an alternative airline that included the cost of one bag per person. They said no other carriers flew direct from Birmingham to Billund and the only nearby carrier that flew to Billund, flew from Stansted. They believed they had offered the winner a reasonable equivalent to the prize.
Bmi pointed out that the terms and conditions stated 'Transfers are not included in the prize'. They said the winner would incur a travel cost to travel to any airport and believed the wording of the terms and conditions made clear that transport to and from the airport was not included in the prize.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted the ad featured text that stated "Enter our competition to win a family trip to Legoland Billund with bmi regional!", "Flights across the UK and Europe with bmi regional - Win a family trip to Legoland in Billund" and "We're sending one lucky family of two adults and two children to Legoland in Billund for a two night stay, including free entry into the park and free flights". The page headed "Win a family trip to Legoland in Billund" invited entrants to state their "Preferred departure airport". In that context, we considered potential entrants would understand that the prize included return flights from a destination of their choice, a two-night stay at Legoland Billund Resort and entrance to the park. The winner received confirmation that they had won flights from Birmingham to Billund and a family stay at the Legoland resort.
The terms and conditions stated "Should for any reason the flights to the destination get cancelled indefinitely by the airline, the prize will be changed to another destination on the bmi regional network of the winners choice [sic], and accommodation will be offered in a three star hotel for two nights for a family consisting of two adults and two children. The entry to the attraction (Legoland Billund) will in this case not be replaced and no alternative will be offered". Because bmi no longer flew from Birmingham to Billund, the winner had not been awarded the advertised prize. Instead they were offered flights from Birmingham to Gothenburg. We noted however, that the destination was not of the winner's choosing and that the offer was declined. The ad offered a prize of a family trip to Legoland and included images that depicted a family holiday at Legoland. We understood that alternative airlines provided services from Birmingham to Billund. In that context, we considered the offer of flights to Gothenburg was not a reasonable equivalent to the advertised prize.
CAP Code rule 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. .1 stated that ads must not falsely claim or imply that a consumer, on doing a particular act, would win a prize or equivalent benefit, if a cost were to be incurred by the consumer in claiming that prize or equivalent benefit. Whilst we acknowledged that bmi offered the winner flights from Stansted to Billund with an alternative airline, we were concerned that the winner would incur an additional cost in order to secure the prize. They would incur a cost to travel to Stansted, despite their prize including return flights from Birmingham to Billund.
For those reasons, we concluded that the ad breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 8.1 8.1 Promoters are responsible for all aspects and all stages of their promotions. and 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. (Sales promotions), 8.15.1 8.15.1 Promoters must award the prizes as described in their marketing communications or reasonable equivalents, normally within 30 days. (Administration) and 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. .1 (Prize promotions).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told bmi not to advertise promotions with prizes where consumers had to incur a cost to claim their prize.
