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 Artssus, an online clothing retailer, seen in January 2024, featured an image of a top with a birds and flowers print, alongside text stating, “Sadly, we are closing Animals in the Forest collection. Last chance, everything up to 49% off!. Shop Now [three emoji pointing hands][link to the retailer’s website]”.
Issue
The ASA understood that the Animals in the Forest collection was still available to purchase on Artssus’ website several months later, challenged whether the:1. claim “we are closing Animals in the Forest collection” was misleading; and2. absence of a closing date for the promotion in the ad breached the Code.
Response
Kentesh Ltd t/a Artssus said the wording of the ad was incorrect. It should have referred to factory clearance products that had previously been on sale and had not been updated and the reference to the Animals in the Forest collection had been made in error. They apologised for the oversight and said they had rectified the problem.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA considered the claim “Sadly, we are closing Animals in the Forest collection. Last chance […] Shop Now” would be understood by consumers to mean that the Animals in the Forest collection was going to be withdrawn from their website and that they should respond soon if they wanted to purchase the items in the collection before they became unavailable.The ad appeared in January 2024. Further paid-for ads that featured the claim that the Animals in the Forest collection was closing had appeared over the subsequent eight months, with one ad still active in September 2024. Additionally, the Animals in the Forest collection was still available for purchase on the Artssus website in September 2024, eight months after the original ad appeared and had not therefore been withdrawn. We understood from Artssus that they had intended the ad to relate to other clearance products and that the reference to the Animals in the Forest collection in the ad had been made in error. However, we considered that because the claim “we are closing Animals in the Forest collection” suggested that the Animals in the Forest collection was closing down and would soon be unavailable, when that was not the case, the claim was misleading.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code 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, and the absence of which was likely to mislead.Furthermore, Artssus 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 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 Kentesh Ltd t/a Artssus 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.
