A direct mailing from The Phone Book, which was formatted and styled to look like an invoice, has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority after complaints that it looked like the recipient owed the company money.
In yet another case of a mailing trying to be too clever, the pack was individually addressed with an accompanying customer number, and the advertiser’s name, address, and banking details on the right hand side. Text stated “Payment details – Issue date: 23/12/2010 – Due date: 03/01/2011. Total due including VAT (GBP): 89.00”.
The bottom of the ad featured a barcode with small print underneath that stated “Payment of the service for advertisement in The Phone Book is voluntary. This document is not an invoice or a tax receipt, but an offer to enter a contract as per the terms and conditions outlined on the reverse”.
Recipients challenged whether the ad was misleading because it implied that they had already purchased the service from the advertiser, and it did not make clear that it was a marketing communication.
Earlier this month, the ASA received a number of complaints about a mailing by Scotts of Stow-owned The Original Gift Company which many recipients claimed was “too personalised”. And although the ASA rejected the complaints, The Phone Book mailer has not been so lucky.
The Phone Book said the ad was an offer letter for the provision of a priority sponsored placement in the www.theukphonebook.co.uk directory, and it did not intend for it to be perceived as anything else.
But the ASA ruled that few recipients would have seen it as a marketing communication as it was included at the very bottom of the page in small print, under a barcode and recycling logos. The watchdog concluded that the ad did not make clear it was a marketing communication, not an invoice, and ruled the ad must not appear in its current form again.
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