Description:
The advertisement encouraged viewers to join its weight loss challenge and get a full refund. It included a call-to-action to “sculpt a new you in 4 weeks and get a full refund” and “complete your 28 day challenge and GET A FULL REFUND – no questions asked” and “…we give you two months to complete this step”. The advertisement also included a countdown timer, that appeared to be set at 15 minutes, which stated, “your offer expires in [14:45] mins”. The offer’s terms and conditions did not appear to be referenced in the ad screenshots provided by the complainant.
Complaint:
The complainant alleged the advertisement was deceptive and misleading because after completing the challenge in 1.5 months, she was told by the advertiser that she was ineligible for the refund because the challenge must be completed within 28 consecutive days, as clearly outlined in their terms of use, and that she had missed days within that 1.5 month timeframe.
Response:
Although Ad Standards requested a response from the advertiser, there was no response sent to Council.
Decision:
Council members found that the advertisement suggested to participants that they have 2 months to complete the 28 day challenge to be eligible for the refund, period.
Council was of the view that the advertisement did not say that these days must be consecutive. To Council, this was a big miss that greatly altered the perception of the offer as advertised and could have easily been addressed by including the word “consecutively” in the ad’s messaging. In addition, the language used throughout the advertisement was inconsistent which created even more confusion in understanding the advertiser’s offer; for example, the referenced timelines fluctuated between “4 weeks”, “28 days” and “2 months”.
Furthermore, while the advertiser advised the complainant that its terms of use clearly outlines that the 28 days must be consecutive, Council found that to be irrelevant given that the advertisement itself does not even refer to the offer’s terms of use and/or they are inconspicuously buried and/or they are not drawn to the consumer’s attention (i.e. through an asterisk or a “must comply with T&Cs” type of call-out). In fact, with regards to the countdown timer related to the expiry of the offer, one Council member pointed out that 15 minutes would not be enough time for someone to identify, read and understand those terms of use before deciding to sign up.
“There’s conditions attached to that [the full refund] with no reference that there’s conditions that would limit or restrict someone’s ability to get that full refund…there should have been a call-out that there are additional terms to be reviewed/considered”, according to one Council member.
In light of all of this, Council members unanimously held that the advertisement contravened Clause 1(a) and 1(c) of the Code given all pertinent details were not clearly and understandably stated and that the ad contained inaccurate, deceptive or otherwise misleading representations.
Infraction:
Clause 1(a), Clause 1(c)
