Ad description
An email for a travel operator, Flywhizz, dated 24 October 2017, included text at the top of the email which stated “From British Airways”. Various airlines were listed in the body of the email, including British Airways.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied the marketer was British Airways.
Response
Flywhizz said they did not intend to present themselves as British Airways and the inclusion of British Airways in the header was a mistake. They said the ad clearly mentioned their brand, company name and contact number. They also said the ad was no longer appearing.
Assessment
Upheld
We noted the text at the top of the email which stated the sender was “From British Airways” and the use of the British Airways airline branding, alongside other airline brandings, in the body of the email. We therefore considered that consumers would understand from the ad that the marketer was British Airways. While we noted the ad featured a large logo for Flywhizz, we did not consider this countered the overall impression.
Because we considered the ad implied the marketer was British Airways, although we understood the marketer was Flywhizz, we concluded the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading Advertising).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Flywhizz to ensure their future advertising did not misleadingly imply they were an airline when they were not.
