The Advertising Standards Authority (the "ASA") issued a ruling on 17 July 2024 against GB Sports Advisors Ltd t/a Geoff Banks Online for failing to communicate significant terms and conditions of a promotion.
The Advertisement
In April 2024, the Geoff Banks Online website featured a promotion which read "FOR THE MISSUS: Place a bet on the Aintree Grand National and get a free £10 bet on the Scottish Grand National." The ad featured a brief outline of further conditions below, stating “Geoff Banks will award a £10 free bet for use on the Scottish Grand National if you wager on the Aintree Grand National. Minimum Qualifying Wage is £10 win or £5 each way. Qualifying wager can win or lose. Bets placed prior to 3pm on Saturday 13th April qualify for this offer. Previous Free bet stakes awarded do not count as qualifying wagers. Free bet will be credited to your account by Saturday 20th of April.”
A later email clarified that to qualify for the free bet, consumers had to respond to a text message received from Geoff Banks Online by a set date, having already placed their bet - the set date for responding to the text message was not communicated to consumers in the ad. The complainant was unable to redeem the promotion and argued this breached the code because significant conditions of the promotion were omitted.
GB Sports Advisors Ltd Response
GB Sports maintain that all of the essential conditions were clearly provided in the original ad and follow up text message. They argued that a follow up email was sent to further clarify terms, including the deadline for making the bet, and that the advertisement was updated on the 19th of April 2024 (the day before the deadline) to also include this deadline.
Further arguing that other entrants had followed the entrance criteria and were credited the promised £10 bet, GB Sports maintained that the text message provided the necessary information and that they did not believe the ad was unclear or misleading.
Assessment
The ASA upheld the complaint as the CAP Code explicitly states that promotions must communicate all significant conditions and information applicable to such promotion, potentially including participation requirements and the closing date, where it would likely mislead consumers if this information was to be omitted.
The ad had not stated that consumers would receive a text message, that they would need to respond to this text message by a set date and time, or the date and time they would need to place the bet by. While a follow up email was sent which clarified that consumers would receive a text message which they would be required to respond to in order to qualify for the £10 free bet and the ad was updated the day prior to the closing date to include the date customers had to place the bet by, neither mentioned that consumers had to respond to the text message by a set time and date to be eligible. The text message also did not include this information.
The ASA concluded that the promotion breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 8.2, 8.17, 8.17.1, 8.17.4 and 8.17.4.a (Promotional marketing) by omitting the closing date and how to participate, both significant conditions. They determined the appropriate action to be that the ad must not appear in the form complained of again and that GB Sports Advisors must ensure that future promotions include all significant conditions.
Comment
While the ASA considered the information made available to consumers across various ads, emails, and the text, they make clear that this piecemeal approach is not how conditions should be presented and that all of the promotion terms should have been clearly presented in the ad itself at the start of the promotion. The ASA expects terms and conditions of promotions to be easy to access and clearly communicated to consumers. Any significant limitations or qualifications should be made clear in the advertisement to avoid misleading consumers.
Co-authored by Rachel Lawson, trainee solicitor at CMS
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