Sky Breaks’ Spanish owner Easy Consulting SL has been told not to run the promotion against in its previous form, which the ASA said was "likely to mislead".
The prize promotion on skybreaks.co.uk, seen on 8 August 2022, read: "Enter to WIN! 7 nights free holiday accommodation” and: “Fill in your details below".
However, after the complainant was told over the phone they had won a runners-up prize and must pay a fee to claim it, they approached the ASA to challenge whether the promotion breached its code.
Easy Consulting said that the draw, which took place every week or two, resulted in one prize winner, who did not have to pay anything towards their prize, and multiple runners-up, who were offered an option of taking a week’s accommodation, with an administration fee of £59, on a non-obligatory purchase basis.
Around eight to 15 entrants were offered runners-up prizes, said Easy Consulting, depending on the total number of entries into a given draw.
The complaint was upheld, with the ASA ruling all marketing communications and/or material referring to promotions "must communicate all applicable significant conditions or information where the omission was likely to mislead".
These conditions, said the ASA, should include at least a "reasonable estimate" of the number and nature of the available prizes. In addition, the ASA noted the advert didn’t contain any information after the runners-up prizes, which it said was "material" to the promotion given it was "likely to influence" consumers’ decisions about and understanding of the promotion.
The UK’s CAP code, the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing, states promoters must not falsely claim or imply the consumer has already won, would win, or would win on doing a particular act, "if the consumer incurred a cost to claim the prize".
"Although the website did not refer to runners-up prizes, we understood that was how they were described to entrants when they were telephoned," said the ASA in its judgment. "Because there was a cost involved in claiming that prize, we concluded that the promotion also breached the code on that basis."
The ASA determined the promotion must not run again "in the form complained of". "We told Easy Consulting SL to ensure their future promotions included all significant conditions, including information about the number and nature of prizes. We also told them not to falsely claim that consumers had won a prize if they were required to incur a cost to claim the prize."
