ASA Adjudication on Blair Prospect Ltd
Blair Prospect Ltd
6 Sawmill Yard
Blair Atholl
Perthshire
PH18 5TL
Blair Atholl
Perthshire
PH18 5TL
Date:
5 June 2013Media:
National pressSector:
Health and beautyNumber of complaints:
1Complaint Ref:
A13-226278Ad
A national press ad for a soundwave therapy device stated "TRY NOVASONIC IN YOUR OWN HOME RISK FREE! SEND NO MONEY NOW! ...".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the claim "SEND NO MONEY NOW!" was misleading, because he understood that he would have to pay an upfront fee which would be refunded later if he did not like the product.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
Response
Blair Prospect did not believe the ad was misleading because they were not claiming that the product was free. They explained that they were running a two-stage campaign where the customer was invited to have an information brochure sent to their home free of charge by calling the number provided or completing and returning the coupon. They said nowhere in the ad did it state that the product was free of charge, nor did it ask for any money. They said in the top of the cut-out coupon it clearly stated "FREE BROCHURE - SEND NO MONEY NOW". They said they had been using this format for the last 20 years and had not received any complaints.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA understood that consumers could request an information brochure free of charge by calling the number listed or returning the coupon. However, we considered that the overall impression given by the ad was that consumers could try the product without financial obligation and that they would not need to send any money upfront. For example, we noted that the headline claim stated "TRY NOVASONIC IN YOUR OWN HOME RISK FREE! SEND NO MONEY NOW!" and text in the body of the ad stated "... Try Novasonic Yourself "Risk Free*" ... For further information on how you can try Novasonic yourself "Risk Free" in the comfort of your own home get in touch now! ...". Although we noted that text lower down in the ad stated "FREE BROCHURE - SEND NO MONEY NOW!", we considered that contradicted rather than clarified the other text. Because we understood that consumers were required to pay an upfront fee to try the product (which was refunded if the consumer did not want to keep the product after trying it), we considered the claim "SEND NO MONEY NOW!" was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 (Misleading advertising).
The ASA understood that consumers could request an information brochure free of charge by calling the number listed or returning the coupon. However, we considered that the overall impression given by the ad was that consumers could try the product without financial obligation and that they would not need to send any money upfront. For example, we noted that the headline claim stated "TRY NOVASONIC IN YOUR OWN HOME RISK FREE! SEND NO MONEY NOW!" and text in the body of the ad stated "... Try Novasonic Yourself "Risk Free*" ... For further information on how you can try Novasonic yourself "Risk Free" in the comfort of your own home get in touch now! ...". Although we noted that text lower down in the ad stated "FREE BROCHURE - SEND NO MONEY NOW!", we considered that contradicted rather than clarified the other text. Because we understood that consumers were required to pay an upfront fee to try the product (which was refunded if the consumer did not want to keep the product after trying it), we considered the claim "SEND NO MONEY NOW!" was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 (Misleading advertising).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Blair Prospect to ensure that they make clear in future ads that although consumers are not required to send any money to obtain the free brochure, they are required to pay an upfront fee to try the product which will be refunded if they decide not to keep the product
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