When are you free to use “free”?
Samsung recently ran a promotion that got flagged for an ASA ruling, highlighting the importance of compliant marketing communications and ensuring they meet all regulations.
They ran a web offer of “claim 6 months free Persil detergent when you buy a Samsung 11kg ecobubble washing machine” which received an ASA Ruling on 27th November.
The issue here, is that “free” wasn’t strictly free. Of the three redeemable products that eligible consumers could claim, one was via a cashback method which meant that consumers had to purchase the product first and then claim the value back – a different mechanic to claiming a free product, and two only received a £7 and £7.50 discount respectively off the Persil packs on offer – not free either.
In addition, although Samsung included in their full T&Cs that only 3,000 vouchers were available for each of the three products and that participants only had 20 minutes after they clicked the link to redeem the coupon, they agreed that those significant conditions could have been made clearer in the ad. Persil were fulfilling the coupons via a third party provider and didn’t expect to run out of coupons before the end of the promotional period.
According to the ASA Ruling “They explained that the limit of 3,000 coupons was calculated as an estimate of the total number of consumers likely to redeem the coupons. It was not intended to be a limited promotion whereby there were many consumers unable to redeem the coupons who had wished to. For that reason, they said they did not include the coupon restriction within the ad, but because of the complaint, intended to add this condition to the abridged terms and conditions viewable within the ad.”
What does the CAP Code say about use of the word “Free” and misleading marketing communications?
1. Firstly, the CAP Code states that “Marketing communications must make clear the extent of the commitment the consumer must make to take advantage of a “free” offer.” (Section 3.23)
Secondly, the CAP Code also states “marketing communications must not describe a product as “free” if the consumer had to pay anything other than the unavoidable cost of responding and collecting, or paying for delivery, of the item”
Given that consumers were only able to redeem a certain value off the purchased product via a coupon or purchase it first and then claim their money back (depending on their chosen product), the Persil products weren’t genuinely free in either instance.
2. When it comes to misleading marketing, the CAP Code is clear that “marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.” (section 3.12). This comes hand in hand with section 8.17 which states “All marketing communications or other material referring to promotions must communicate all applicable significant conditions or information where the omission of such conditions or information is likely to mislead”
As key information about the very short validity period of the coupons, the limited number of these and all the information regarding the actual claim process were omitted from the summary T&Cs, Samsung’s communications were deemed misleading.
Samsung and Persil were trying to do something positive to reward consumers who had purchased one of their products however the offer was not communicated clearly enough, and the material information wasn’t provided to consumers in advance of making the purchase which presented a problem.
The ASA ordered Samsung not to use the ad again and instructed both them and Persil “to ensure that they did not describe a promotional item as “free”, if consumers had to pay towards the cost of purchasing those items, and to make clear if those promotional items would have to be purchased upfront before being redeemed via a cashback mechanism”.
At PromoVeritas we offer a comprehensive review of all packaging and marketing communications for brands we work with to ensure that they adhere to all regulations. Click here for a full list of services we offer that can help you run a great promotion and do not hesitate to get in touch.
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