The ARB was called on to consider a consumer complaint regarding the data, as the complainant was of the opinion that the advertisement was misleading.
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The Advertising Regulatory Board has ruled that a KWIKSPAR advertisement promoting free mobile data is misleading due to its ambiguous wording regarding eligibility. The advertisement did not clearly explain that the benefit was limited to customers using a SPAR mobile SIM card.
The ARB was called on to consider a consumer complaint regarding the data, as the complainant was of the opinion that the advertisement was misleading.
According to the complainant, she was only told after her purchases that she had to have a SPAR mobile SIM card in order to receive the free data.
The advertiser was afforded an opportunity to respond to the complaint but submitted no response, the ARB said in its finding made earlier this month.
The Directorate of the Advertising Regulatory Board noted that the advertiser was not a member of the ARB, and while the advertising watchdog had no jurisdiction over it or could not impose binding sanctions on a non-member, it was empowered to issue rulings for the guidance of its members.
In this case, the ARB said it would rule on whatever was before it when making a decision for the guidance of its members.
The essence of the complaint was that the advertisement was misleading, as the complainant was only informed after her purchases that she had to have a SPAR mobile SIM card in order to receive the free data advertised beneath certain deals.
“It is always frustrating for the Directorate to make a decision in the absence of a response – especially in a matter like this where it appears that there may be a reasonable explanation to the problem experienced by the complainant,” the ARB said.
The Directorate noted that in all the instances where the claim “Free Data” appeared within the advertisement, it was always accompanied by the claim “SPAR mobile”, indicating that the free data that was being offered was somehow linked to the advertiser’s SPAR mobile service.
The issue here is, therefore, not the fact that a hypothetical reasonable consumer, when exposed to the claims of free data, would not be aware that the offer is somehow linked to the SPAR mobile service. Consumers familiar with the service might realise that the offer is only available to people who have the SPAR SIM card, but most consumers will conclude that SPAR Mobile is offering them free data, regardless of their SIM card, the ARB said.
“The advertising is, therefore, ambiguous at best,” it noted.
It commented that adding more information to clear this ambiguity was not a complex issue. A change of the claim “SPAR mobile” to “with a SPAR mobile SIM card” could easily clear all confusion, as consumers would easily understand that the free data was only available with a SPAR Mobile SIM card, it said.
Based on the conclusion that the advertisement was ambiguous, the ARB instructed its members to not accept any advertisement from the advertiser if the fact that an active SPAR mobile SIM card was a requirement before customers could receive the promised free data is omitted.