Ad description

Promotions on elitecompetitions.co.uk, seen in January and May 2019, each offered the opportunity to win a car. The first offered consumers the opportunity to select a number between 1 and 1250, at a cost of £30 a ticket. The second offered the opportunity to select a number between 1 and 475 at a cost of £11 each. Both stated at the bottom of the page, “see terms and conditions for free entry method”.

 

Issue

Rafflrs Prize Ltd [sic], and a solicitor specialising in regulation and compliance in the gaming and betting industry, challenged whether the promotions breached the Code because the free entry route was not explained clearly and prominently.
 

Response

Hydro Solutions Fylde Ltd t/a Elite Competitions said the availability of a free entry method was clearly visible to all customers at the point of entry, and that the website stated prominently on the fourth line down “see below for free entry method”. Further down the page, text stated “see terms and conditions for free entry method”. They said the free entry process was clearly stated and explained in the terms and conditions. They believed there was no requirement for the free entry procedure to be explained in full on the home page. They said the terms containing the free entry route procedure were one click away from the home page, and that they clearly stated the procedure for entering the competition for free. They believed it was impractical to explain every step of the free entry process in detail on the home page, as it was to explain every step of paid entry. There were steps to follow in entering for free and by paying and they believed neither was less clear nor less prominent than the other.
 

Assessment

Upheld

The CAP Code stated that any free entry route should be explained clearly and prominently. The ASA noted that both ads stated “See below for free entry method” near the top of the page. At the very bottom of ad (a), text stated, “To Enter For Free See Terms & Conditions”. Ad (b) also stated “see terms and conditions for free entry method” towards the bottom of the page. We considered that an explanation of the free entry route was likely to be material to consumers, and that the method of entering for free was a significant condition to the promotion, which should have been stated prominently. However, it was only stated within a long series of terms and conditions on a separate page, and we did not consider that including information on the free entry route in the terms and conditions was sufficiently prominent. We therefore concluded that both ads were misleading and breached the Code.

Ads (a) and (b) breached CAP Code rules 8.17 and 8.17.2 (Significant conditions for promotions).
 

Action

The ad must not appear again in the same form. We told Hydro Solutions Fylde Ltd t/a Elite Competitions to ensure that free entry routes were explained clearly and prominently.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

8.17     8.17.2    

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