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Published
Sep 2, 2021
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PrettyLittleThing promotion ruled unfair by ads watchdog

Published
Sep 2, 2021

No Valentine’s Day kisses for PrettyLittleThing. An Instagram promotion posted in February for the Boohoo-owned fast-fashion brand breached advertising codes, with the The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) deeming it unfair and misleading.


PrettyLittleThing


It followed a complaint about the Instagram competition post that PrettyLittleThing added in February which included a caption stating: “Valentines Giveaway Would you Love to win all these V-Day goodies… including a Cartier Love Ring, a brand new Dyson Airwrap Styler, £5,000 cash, a £500 PLT wardrobe and a beauty bundle worth over £100”.

The post included the image of several PrettyLittleThing-branded shopping bags with several products displayed in front.

The complainant, who believed it wasn’t possible for the promoter to track who had fulfilled the promotion’s entry conditions, challenged whether the promotion was fair.

The ASA found that the retailer’s promotion wasn’t administered fairly and therefore breached its CAP Code (Edition 12) rules (Promotional marketing), (Administration) and (Prize promotions).

The ASA told PLT to ensure that future promotions were administered fairly and that prizes were awarded to genuine winners “in accordance with the laws of chance or by an independent person or under the supervision of an independent person”.

The brand responded by highlighting that it used an independent third-party website that could download a range of data from Instagram posts, such as ‘likes’, comments and hashtags, relating to the prize draw. It added that the computer mechanism allowed it to produce verifiable random results and select a winner.

It also said it then took additional steps to check the eligibility of the chosen winner by manually checking that all entry requirements had been satisfied before awarding the prize.

The CAP Code required promoters to conduct their promotions “equitably, promptly and efficiently and be seen to deal fairly and honourably with participants and potential participants”.

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