November 26, 2018

The text of a Facebook post by Little Elf Centre Creation featured a promotion stated: “Okay guys here it is competition time. To win a set of family matching shirts includes: – X2 adults X3 children X1 custom autograph book. All you have to do is be a liker of the page tag a friend in the comments below share this post with as many people as you can. Winner will be announced on the 15th September and chosen by random. You will receive a number assigned to you by myself in the comments below and then a random number generation will be used to choose a winner. Good luck everyone”.

The complainant, who had been notified that they had won the competition but did not receive the prize, challenged whether the promotion breached the Code.

Little Elf Centre Creations did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries. The ASA noted that there was no registered legal entity associated with the Little Elf Centre Creations Facebook page.

The CAP Code states that promoters must award the prizes as described in their marketing communications or reasonable equivalents, normally within 30 days after the closing date. They must also avoid causing unnecessary disappointment and that withholding prizes was only justified if participants had not met the qualifying criteria set out clearly in the rules of the promotion.

Little Elf Centre Creations did not provide any reasoning for justifiably withholding the prize. In the absence of the prize promotion specifying a date by which the prize should be awarded, the ASA said that Little Elf Creations should have awarded the prize within 30 days.

Because Little Elf Centre Creations had not awarded the prize at all, the promotion breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 8.2 and 8.14 (Promotional marketing), 8.15.1 (Administration) and 8.27 and 8.2.3 (Prize promotions). The matter was referred to the CAP Compliance team. (ASA Ruling on Person(s) unknown t/a Little Elf Centre Creations (14 November 2018) — to read the Ruling in full, click here).