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Misleading - News of the World — England Rugby DVD
TWBA/London

Issue

Four viewers complained about an advertisement for the News of the World. The advertisement stated 'Own a piece of history with our free World Cup DVD offer featuring highlights from England's dramatic victory exclusively with this weekend's News of the World'. Superimposed text read 'England only. Redeem DVD at Sainsbury's by 10 December. Subject to availability'.

Three of the complainants felt the advertisement was unclear that the DVD was not in the newspaper but was only redeemable at Sainsbury's. All four viewers contacted their local Sainsbury's stores, but their stores said they were either not participating in the offer or had run out of stock. They felt the advertisement was therefore misleading for not saying that only selected Sainsbury's stores were participating.

Response

News International, publisher for the News of the World, explained that Sainsbury's had agreed to be the 'redemption partner' for this DVD offer. However, there was a lack of communication between Sainsbury's Head Office and its stores. Shop staff were not aware of the details of the promotion. So when each Sainsbury's store checked their warehouse they realised that they did have enough stock to fulfil the promotion. Sainsbury's accepted full responsibility for the problem and posted out approximately 5,000 DVDs to customers who took in their vouchers.

News International also sent out an additional 1,000 DVDs to readers who sent in their vouchers. The following week its newspaper published a phone line, alongside an apology, for readers to call if they still wanted a DVD.

Decision

The text accompanying the advertisement made it clear that the DVD was redeemable from Sainsbury's and that there was a limited supply from each store. Ofcom accepted that Sainsbury's Head Office made an error in communicating the promotion to its stores and welcomed the steps taken by Sainsbury's and News International in sending DVDs to those customers who contacted them directly. Ofcom decided that the advertiser had suitably resolved the matter.

The complaints were resolved.

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