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Property competition site misled over prize in ads, ASA rules

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  • 24/10/2018
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Property competition site misled over prize in ads, ASA rules
A property site broke advertising rules when promoting a competition to win a house on twitter, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled.

 

Reve House Ltd wrote tweets including ‘the competition for a chance to win Reve House on the River Thames is open, see the website and enter for only £25,’ as well as, ‘Enter spot the ball competition for a chance to win New England style house on the Thames in Berkshire all SDLT paid’.

In another message, the company wrote, ‘No bank of mum and dad. Then try your hand at this [website address] for a chance to win a £4million house near Reading on the Thames mortgage free and stamp duty paid’.

A complainant challenged whether the ads were misleading because they omitted that a 25p transaction fee applied when buying a ticket, and a cash prize equivalent to 75% of the revenue received from ticket sales would instead be awarded if a ticket sale threshold was not met.

The ASA said the 25p entry fee was a non-optional charge and therefore the ad had been misleading.

Tweets had also very much focused on the prize being the house on the Thames, the watchdog added.

In its ruling it wrote: “We considered the prominence of that information was likely to give consumers the impression that the winner would win the property irrespective of the number of tickets sold, and that the cash alternative condition was not sufficiently prominent to alter that impression.”

Reve House Ltd was told to ensure that future ads must note all significant conditions sufficiently prominently and that they awarded the prize described in the ad, or a reasonable equivalent.

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