ASA Upholds Complaints Against Misleading Sun Ad

The ASA has censured a promotion in The Sun newspaper after readers complained it was misleading.

The promotion was headlined “Do you have the knowledge, £100,000 to be won” and offered readers the opportunity to win a cash prize by selecting the correct answer on a special Sun gamecard.

The competition promised a £5,000 cash prize to readers who circled three correct answers on the gamecard. However, one complainant, whose gamecard showed him to be a £5,000 winner, objected that the promotion was misleading because he was later sent a cheque for just £50.

The advertisers pointed out that the terms and conditions of the competition made it clear that there was a limited prize pool. They explained that because of a technical error, the cash prizes were smaller than previously thought.

However, the ASA ruled that the promotion was misleading because it clearly stated that £5,000 would be won when the correct answer to the daily question matched £5,000 on the participant’s game card. The Authority was also concerned that participants in the promotion had been disappointed and warned the advertisers to take more care in future.

The ASA recently refused to uphold complaints against Selfridges for a series of outdoor and press ads that featured a range of naked body parts (see ASA Dismisses Complaints Against Naked Selfridges Ads).

ASA: 020 7580 5555 www.asa.org.uk

Recent Regulation Stories from NewsLine ASA Slams BT For Misleading Directory Enquiries Ad ASA Launches New Initiative To Help Can Spam Marketers Forced To Swallow New Rules On Food Ads

Subscribers can access ten years of NewsLine articles by clicking the Search button to the left