Ad description
A website for Harvester Restaurants, www.harvester.co.uk, was seen on 22 February 2024. Text stated, “FLAVOUR REWARDS 25% OFF FOOD WHEN YOU SIGN UP TO THE HARVESTER APP AND JOIN THE FLAVOUR FAN CLUB”. Website users could click on a box which stated, “DOWNLOAD NOW”, and the “BENEFITS OF THE APP” were listed underneath.
Text stated, “LOVE FLAVOUR. LOVE OUR REWARDS”. Underneath, text stated, “SIGN UP FOR 25% OFF FOOD” and in smaller text, “We know you’re all about the flavour & we’re the flavour experts, so sign up to our Harvester App to become a Flavour Fan Club member and receive 25% off mains on your next visit”.
More information was then given on how the Flavour Rewards Loyalty app worked and text stated, “HERE’S FIVE REASONS TO DOWNLOAD THE APP” and the reasons were listed underneath, including text that stated, “25% OFF FOOD Receive a voucher for 25% off food on your next visit when you sign up’. Enjoy all your favourites for less and don’t forget to collect a Flavour Rewards stamp”.
Issue
The complainant, who understood that there were exclusions to the offer, challenged whether the claim “25% OFF FOOD” when you signed up to the Harvester app was misleading.Response
Mitchells and Butlers Leisure Retail Ltd t/a Harvester said that the “25% OFF FOOD” promotion was valid on all food and not just main courses. The “25% off mains on your next visit” claim included in the text of the ad, which contradicted the “25% OFF FOOD” in the headline of the ad, was incorrect. They acknowledged this was inconsistent and stated that they had now rectified the error.
Harvester said that the promotion was valid for any food item on the following menus: Main Menu, Breakfast and Brunch Menu, Vegetarian and Vegan Menu, Dessert Menu. However, it was not valid on the following menus: Kids’ Menu, Salad Bar, Lunch Menu (2-3 course deal), Evening Menu (2-3 course deal) and Sunday Menu (2-3 course deal), other set menus, buffets, click and collect or delivery through Harvester or third-party partners. It also excluded Bank Holidays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve or Valentine's Day.
Harvester explained that if a customer wished to take up the offer, they needed to download and sign up for the Harvester app. Once that process was complete, the relevant voucher was made available to the customer within their “wallet” in the app. The voucher contained the full terms and conditions which the customer could view prior to using the voucher.
Harvester stated that they had now made changes to the ad to make the exclusions and restrictions of the offer clearer in the headline of the ad prior to the customer downloading and registering with the app.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code stated that when making claims in their advertising, marketers should state any significant limitations or qualifications and must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information.
The ASA considered that the claim “25% OFF FOOD” in the ad would be understood by consumers to mean that all food in Harvester restaurants would be included in the promotion, and further text which stated, “Enjoy all your favourites for less” reinforced this impression. The claim did not indicate that there were any limitations or qualifications to the “25% OFF FOOD” promotion which meant that it did not apply to all food. Additionally, no information regarding qualifications to the offer were included in the ad, nor did the ad indicate that terms and conditions applied.
We acknowledged that the terms and conditions, which detailed the limitations and qualifications of the promotion, were provided to the consumer within the voucher after they had downloaded the app. We understood that the promotion had limitations and qualifications. It was not valid for the kids’ menu, salad bar and the 2-3 course Lunch, Evening and Sunday menus, and any other set menus. It also excluded Bank Holidays and many special occasions such as Mother’s Day. We considered that these were significant qualifications and limitations of the promotion, which should have been made clear to the consumer in the ad, prior to them downloading the app.
We concluded that the claim in the ad of “25% OFF FOOD” was misleading. We further concluded that the ad misleadingly omitted material information regarding the significant limitations and qualifications of the promotion.
The ad breached CAP Code rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising), and 3.9 (Qualification).
Action
The ad must not appear in the form complained of. We told Mitchells and Butlers Leisure Retail Ltd t/a Harvester to ensure that in future their ads did not state or imply that all their food was included in an offer if that was not the case.
We told Harvester to include their exclusions and qualifications, and terms and conditions in the ad.
